B E Y O N D
by nm3
Summary: Chap6: NERIMIAN HELL's Morning is alright for fighting. We all know the days our dearest Saotome Ranma has to put up with, but will his fianceé be able to handle insanity? Will Akane crack? READ ON! & Do Review! go 2 my blog 4 sneak previews
1. Ch. 1 --> Anxiety // Ch. 2 --> Returning...

**Prologue**

This is the story of a cursed martial artistwho saves his forced uncute fiancée from the claws of a god; by killing him, for almost killing her, the love of his life. 

When he realizes that he has lost her, no matter what he did, he almost confessed it all, at that exact moment, life went back to her…

When they come back to Japan, uncured; a improvised wedding is organized, well, she is bribed into agreeing and he was "persuaded" by a dozing blow on his neck. The pig-tailed boy, after waking up in a tuxedo, rushes to the girl's room. He gets stricken by her beauty, but also with the news that the cure is under the same roof… while denying his feelings towards her.

Well, as you know this martial artist is a trouble magnet, so, his other 3 fiancées showed up: a crazed Chinese amazon, a cross dressing okonomiyaki chef, a deluded poisoning gymnast; with his rivals for Akane's affection *not that he'd admit he wants it…*: a poetry-vomiting bokken-swinging yerk, a forever lost pig boy;a couple of more people who want the cure for the Jusenkyo curses: a blind amazon goose and a coward sign-writing panda; add a perverted old freak, a money-thirsty sister-in-law, a flood-like weeping father-in-law and viola!… the perfect recipe for a disastrous wedding.

Well, after it, his 'almost' father-in-law declared it was only "overtime".

So, this story is about what happens during & after the overtime. This story is about what happens… BEYOND

**Beyond**

**A fanfiction by nm3**

** **

Disclaimers : This is a fanfiction based on the characters made & owned by the genius Rumiko Takahashi, which I, without her permission (like millions of fans out there) borrowed for the sole propose of creating this humble fic.Gomen! Takahashi-sama!

One last thing, this story has lots of spoilers and it may be better that you know the end of the series ( Volume 38 ) =). That's it!

On with the story!

**Chapter 1:**

**"Anxiety"**

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!" a pig-tailed figure yelled, awakening completely while gasping for air and sweating, in the middle of the night

*don't get paranoid! She's fine, sleeping in her bed! I checked the entrance, the windows and the neighborhood twice and stayed on the roof on top of her room until she had slept for an hour before going to sleep *…a voice in his head yelled, almost out of habit...*Gotta know for sure…*.

The figure ran upstairs and started hearing out her door, as the little duck balanced on the its support. 

*Nothing*…

*well…dah!… She doesn't snore like that stupid panda!*.

He went down the hall as fast as he came, opened a window and crawled onto the roof, the cold wind hit him while he walked a few steps and let himself hang from the roof to be able to watch the inside of the room. 

He could see a tiny little body whose chest rose and fell covered with a sheet. She moved around, almost uncovering her face to him. He saw her beautiful features as she surfed in the waves of her dreams. 

NOW, he was calmed. NOW, he would be able to go back to sleep. He went back to his room, settled on his futon, and rolled over searching for his sleep… but couldn't.

*Aw man!…another cold night!*.

He stood up, grabbed his warm PJs, his sheets, and pillow and climbed back up. He settled on the roof, exactly on top of her room.

The sunrise rays attacked Ranma's sleeping form. Not wanting the sun to bug him yet, he reached for his sheet to cover himself with, but they were nowhere to be found, he had to give in to the awakening of the day. 

"Hhhhhmmmmmm!" he unpleasantly groaned before scratching the back of his head. He snapped his eyes open, crawled a few meters and let himself hang in front of Akane's window, eager to match with her sight. He found her bed empty and the window open, Akane wasn't there.

*Nooo!!! She has been kidnapped again!!!… but I was here…how!?!* his brain abruptly shouted, jumping to conclusions already, until he heard a sharp "Kiiiaaaiiii!" followed by the crashing sound of concrete, coming from the dojo. 

*Akane!*.

He somersaulted down to the back yard, landing near the koi pond and, as fast and quiet as he could, he ran to the dojo, stopping immediately at the sliding door and secretly trying to take a glimpse inside. There he could finally see her, she was right in front of the hiroga frame, preparing herself to break another pile of bricks.

The sweaty Akane took a hold of her belt while focusing her chi to break the concrete pile. With a sudden move she lifted her hand and with a piercing scream, she attacked the bricks. They shattered instantly, sending hundreds of tiny pieces to every corner of the dojo. 

* Must-train-harder* her mind shouted. 

* Must-be-stronger-faster…better* she repeated over and over, her voice echoing in her head. 

* I will never be as close to it again, not without the biggest fight I can give… I won't be as helpless, ever again…* she silently promised. 

"Never again!" she loudly affirmed while clenching her fists at her sides, while desperate scenes of the recent Jusendo face-2-face-encounter-with-death incident stormed through her mind. Then she remembered Ranma saving her, almost confessing his true feelings for her, saying what she has wanted to hear from him for so long… and then recalled the reluctant way he denied every single bit before the immediate/aborted wedding. 

*Ah!! That jerk*

Ranma, unnoticed and shielded by the door, saw the pained and then angered face Akane was suffering with; he frowned, letting his concern show off in his eyes wandering what was she thinking of. 

*Never again!?*… her voice echoed…*What does she mean?*

Akane relaxed her fists, and initiated akata, clinging to the thought that now everything was all right… *for now* a voice added. She continued to do the kata that started out clumsily…

*What a clumsy tomboy! She can't even do this simple kata right!* his mind thought. 

As if challenged, Akane just let herself be lost in the kata movements leaving her mind blank. Immediately she continued the kata as gracefully and skillfully as possible, almost like she was dancing and floating. Every kick, leap and punch was being performed with amazing technique andbeautiful grace, the movements flowing through her body. She started to increase the pace and difficulty of her kata, not letting her new found gracefulness and technique slip.

A wide-eyed Ranma stared outside the dojo. 

Akane leaped kicking through the air, getting to the climax of her improvised kata. Punch-kick-punch-block-block-kick-and-punch!. Akane retrieved her finishing guard position, and started down to bow…

"Hmmm! Great kata Akane! Right Ranma?" Soun declared, catching both Ranma and Akane by surprise. Akane was too much into her final kata to notice anything around her, and Ranma was too much into watching Akane's graceful kata to notice anything around him. 

Soun climbed the steps up to the entrance of the dojo while a startled Ranma stood up from his crunched position too near to the ground.

"Right Ranma?" Soun asked again while shaking Ranma's shoulder. 

"Hmm, yeah" he said weakly, forcing a nervous smile while scratching the back of his head with one of his hands and the other behind his back. 

"Arigatou gozaimasu" Akane thanked, staring at the curious picture before her. She turned and picked up a towel that was on the floor, patted her sweaty face and hung it around her neck; finished her workout with some stretching exercises, and left the dojo, walking to the bathroom; leaving a serious Ranma and a smiley Soun behind. 

*What's up with her!? I can't even guess what she is thinking!** Is she mad at me for the wedding thing!? Or just simply depressed… but what is she depressed about?**I hate the look she's been wearing these days…* 

"but she won't talk to me!" he declared out loud, unnoticing.

"Look who's talking about not being able to express himself…another night out in the roof? I presume…" Nabiki asked when Ranma noticed that he had somehow reached the corridor. 

Not thinking at the answer, he affirmed with a flat "Ah hum" and continued his way nowhere. His mind snapped out of it and backpedaled to Nabiki.

"Hey! How did you know!?" he asked. 

"Ranma, Ranma, poor thing… you still manage to fantasize that you can actually _hide_ something from _me_, oh please!. It's obvious that you've been watching on Akane every single moment since you returned from Jusendo 4 days ago, and every single night you've had to sleep on the roof on top of her room! You even wait outside when she goes to the bathroom!" She half jokingly said.

"Hey! That's not true!" Ranma denied. 

"Come on, Ranma! You wouldn't be able to live without Akane, you'd rather die! You're having second thoughts about why you denied everything at the wedding! You love her…You're just too proud and such a big coward, and so afraid to let her know for sure!" Nabiki hit him with the whole truth. 

"Yeah! As if I'd like to marry that sexless, uncute, humorless, uncoordinated, worst-of-cooks tomboy!" Ranma replied. 

Nabiki frowned with a 'come on' look on her face. "OH Pleeeease! Ranma. It's written all over your forehead!… You can't even pull that little tomboy act anymore!… Be a man…It's not that hard…just follow your heart, it is already heading to the right direction, just let it move that way" Nabiki finished trying to pound reason into Ranma with her truthful words. 

Ranma let the words sink in his hard brain, a frightened frown showed through his features not even noticing the Tendo sister still in front of him. 

"She loves you, Ranma, _that_ is also obvious" she tried to encourage him.

*Is that so!?* he mentally asked.

"…the time she jumped in your HiryuShoutenHa to save the scroll that would cure you from Happosai's weakening moxibustion, the kinjakan stunt she pulled to save your neck, is the newest proof of all, but we can sit here and I can tell you another million proofs more…" Nabiki tried to reassure Ranma.

He stood there, his face showed a blank expression, his mind thinking rapidly.

Nabiki left him with his thoughts. *I won't charge you for that two/three month think out session I did for you back there, Ranma, you're almost family now… take it as a pre-wedding gift, lil' bro.* Nabiki reasoned to herself. *I must get back to business… Time's money!*

* Was that really Nabiki!? The money-sucking machine I've lived with all this time?… Is she right? She's always right… almost… well, she manipulates everything to her advantage… whatever!!… Is it really true that… she… can _love_ me??? I sometimes doubt she even likes me!…*

Ranma needed to think out all this stuff. He saw the clock and realized he had about ½ hour. He ran to the patio and jumped to the roof, his think out shrine.

Shampoo was humming happily while preparing various dishes ordered by the costumers. 

The restaurant was crowded, and Mousse was the only waiter, but his hidden weaponry came to use around the restaurant to help his dearest Shampoo with its attending. 

*It's been a week and three days since grandmother has been away in China, according to the postcard she sent. Why would she leave before we came back from Jusendo? And if she was so close by, why didn't she help me get rid of the tomboy ?!* her mind reeled in mandarin while frying some ingredients in the wok. 

*I need her back, to think another and better way to marry my beloved Ranma as soon as possible!*

"Ping! Ding! Ding! Dong!" the school bell rang for the lunch break.

Akane was walking through the school yard with her friends, looking for a nice tree shade to sit under and enjoy her lunch.

Ranma, with his sandwich and soda in hand, jumped from the classroom window, to the gym's roof, then, jumped from tree to tree, waiting for Akane to choose the one they were going to sit under.

She chose one near the soccer field. She and her friends seated and opened up their bento boxes and took out their chopsticks. Akane looked around and noticed that someone was missing in the soccer game, that's the main reason why their class team was loosing…

Ranma shielded the noise he would have made when he settled on a branch right on top of Akane, with the noise the blowing wind made. He carefully begun munching on his sandwich and sipping up his soda, while hearing out the conversation about to start between the girls.

"What's up Akane!? Who are you looking for in the game?" Sayuri asked, the rest of the girls were eating their food, lifting their heads to pay attention. 

"No one" she flatly answered.

"Yeah right!? You're wandering where Ranma is, ain't you!?" Sayuri affirmed. 

" As if I care!" Akane tried to deny.

Beneath, Ranma was too much into hearing the conversation…

"He's probably having lunch with his beloved Shampoo, Ukyo or Kodachi…thanking them for… aaarrg! he can do whatever he wants for all I care!" she said with and edge of obvious jealousy in her words. 

Sayuri was about to add something when Akane ordered "Drop it!! Let's just eat our lunch!".

"Aw! We're very edgy today…" Sayuri concluded.

Akane scowled Sayuri at her comment. Evading Akane's stare, Sayuri casually looked up to the sky, while adding "what did Ranma do this time?…"

"Does it has anything to do with those days you were absent last week, from which none of us, your _supposed_ best friends, know anything about, or is it the improvised/aborted wedding that we don't know anything about either!… and most of all, you haven't wanted to tell us anything all day long!" when she finished her statement, Sayuri's stare was curiously standing on certain branch of a certain tree that shaded them; just in time to move out of the way of certain falling object whose trajectory was aimed exactly over Sayuri. 

Ranma fell head-first beside Akane, thanks to the fact that Ranma was too concentrated on the girl's conversation, and forgot that he was on a branch a few meters off the ground.

"Arrrrggg!" Akane growled while painfully elbowing Ranma's head. 

Akane's friends, at the usual display of violence towards Ranma, casually left; leaving them alone.

" 'bout time you fell from that tree branch…although your timing couldn't have been more convenient … They were being _very_ annoying!" Akane calmly pointed.

"Nani!?" Ranma replied**. ***When did she realize I was there!*. 

"Convenient, huh?" calmly remarked rubbing his newly sore spot on his head.

They stared into each other's eyes for a long while… until Akane snapped out of it saying "It's not like I want to be alone with a loser like you!".

"As if I'd like to loose my time with a tomboy like you!" Ranma counterattacked.

"Ranma no baka! Idiot!…Then why the heck are you following me around!?!?" Akane asked, putting her fists on her hips.

" Because… because… why would I follow _you_ , It's the other way around, _you_ are following _me_… you very well know that I always have lunch on one 'o these trees!…" Ranma replied.

"That's not true… you…you never miss a game, whatever the game is, then you're always having lunch on classes. Hinako sensei has punished you a couple of times with holding buckets in the hall…" Akane corrected.

"So it was _me_, the one you were looking for in the game…" Ranma accused. * =) *

Akane was about to deny it when he added "… then you _are_ following me, 'cause you _conveniently_ chose this tree to be able to watch thesoccer game, right!?".

"…no…ahh…I wanted to see if our class won, Hiroshi & Daisuke aren't that bad at soccer…" was Akane's lame comeback.

"… to see how they _lost_ you mean… Ha! They can't even throw an offensive without me!" he commented with sickening pride.

"… Anyways… you _are_ following me, and you've been doing it, and I'm getting tired of it, most of all because you don't want to tell me why!?" she seriously asked, without anger nor happiness in her voice, while staring at Ranma's eyes.

Entering the serious mood, Ranma found himself trapped, and didn't know what to do… He was trying to reach out in the biggest depths of his brain to choose the _right_ words, but found it almost impossible… while a tiny millenary figure jumped around the school yard with a piece of fabric around its head.

It was glomping on many other girls before noticing and saying "Akaaaaaneee!!! Come give Happi a hug! And some panties too!", while leaping in Akane's direction, developing a parabolic trajectory towards her chest… but all he got was pain, and Ranma's "Oh no! you won't, you hentai!" while a well directed punch and a mighty kick hit him in the middle of his aged face. He flew skyward courtesy of Ranma/Akane-air. Ranma took this opportunity and ran off, in pursue of Happosai, yelling stuff about stopping his pervertness for good.

"Arrrggg! Ranma!" Akane growled.

"Come back here! You baka!" she yelled.

* why does _this_ always happen?!?*. She picked up her bento box and chopsticks, and stormed back to her classroom.

Since he didn't want to end up holding buckets in the hall, he figured out a way to be as near to Akane in case something happens * of course *. He went to the roof and installed himself there, exactly on top of their class. 

*This is getting old!* he thought. He just sat there, since he had nothing to do and everything was very calmed, he dozed off.

……He was somewhere known, the scenery was confusing: It was a mixture between Jusendo, Nekonron, Toyenkyo, and… Nerima. Ranma then looked back, a very angered crowed was yellingand running towards him, then he found himself carrying a very wounded Akane doll. 

He started to run, he leaped from roof to tree, jumping springs, houses, amazon shrines, to say the most. When he jumped back to the ground, he was running through sand, then concrete, and then he was running through a cave. 

The horde of people was still after them. In a glimpse, he saw Saffon, Kiima, Kuririn and Toma.He looked forward to avoid hitting a stop sign.

He glimpsed back to see Happosai, Kuno, and Ryoga. He felt sand under his feet, and barely had time to turn around before running into the ocean. 

Again looked back, now he saw Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi,a very big white cat with a jingle bell on his neck, and at the very end there was a horde of boys from Furinkan *even the guys that stalked Akane when I came here*.

He stopped abruptly just in time before falling in the spring, then he somehow knew it was the nannichuan spring. He was about to jump in when he remembered Akane was with him. He took her out of this red Chinese shirt, and then he noticed the spring had dried up.

"Happodaikarin!" the bomb sent Ranma flying backwards into the wall outside the Tendo household. 

He jumped out of the Ranma figure mark left on the wall, and picked up his guard.

"Give Akane to me! Ranma" Ryoga yelled. 

"That fair maiden shall only be mine" Kuno growled.

"I have chosen Tendo Akane to be my wife, and no one will get in my way!" Toma yelled.

"She has been bound by destiny itself to be the wife of the head of the seven luck gods of Nekonron" Kurinrin affirmed.

"Ranma you'll never be happy with that tomboy" Ukyo yelled.

"You won't lower yourself by marrying a peasant, Ranma-sama" Kodachi remarked.

"Airen die with uncute fiancee's cooking" Shampoo affirmed.

"You won't have her!!" Ryoga, Kuno, Toma, Happosai, and Kuririn yelled in unison.

"As if we would have let him choose her!!" all the other fiancés growled.

They all leaped,with Kiima, the white cat and the furinkan boys behind, attacking Ranma, who was about to counterattack, but all his attackers evaporated. Hestood there, blinking away his confusion. Then the vapor condensed, eventually showing Ranma the face of one of his _not_ very favorite persons… or beings.

"Saffron!" he cursed.

Immediately he found himself back at Jusendo, there was no confusion there. He reached inside his shirt *nothing!…*

"Looking for this!" Saffron shouted.

Ranma shot his eyes at Saffron's hands. 

" I mean, _her_" he corrected himself.

"Leave her alone! Give Akane back to me!" Ranma desperately demanded.

"Poor mortal… you'll never understand it: You will never be able to have her, to be with her! We won't let you! There will always be something that will keep you two apart!… always" Saffron threatened.

"If you harm her in any way possible… You'll regret you were ever born!" Ranma hazarded.

"Watch me" Saffron defied at the very instant he turned the Akane doll into dust.

"Akaaaaaaaa…

"aaaannneeeeeee" Ranma screamed while an incredible chi vortex erupted from his hands.

"Shit!!!" both Daisuke and Hiroshi cursed, before jumping out to cover.

Ranma finally realized it was all a nightmare… like the ones he's been having every single night since Jusendo, and made him go to the roof to watch out for Akane… 

"Dammit, Ranma! You burned my school bag!" Hiroshi declared. 

Ranma just stared at his two eyebrow-less classmates, then he noticed a very large piece of the roof fence had been burned off, along with a trail of floor.

"Geez… We just wanted to wake you up! We didn't think that you'd like to be stuck here, even when classes were over… We had to cover up for you on the class duties…" Daisuke said.

Ranma jumped to his feet. *School's out*

"Where's Akane?" he asked.

"She ran out as soon as the bell rang, she was in a hurry, I suppose" Daisuke replied.

Instantly Ranma jumped off the roof on a tree and then to the ground, he started running as fast as he could, his mind, reeling. 

A knife chopping vegetables moved along with Kasumi's hummed song. Genma and Soun were, as usual, playing(cheating) shogi. Nabiki was reading a financial magazine when a very flushed Ranma ran through the front door.

"Konnichiwa!" he greeted.

While he was taking his shoes off, he noticed his school bag right besides where the house slippers always were *Where did that come from? I never picked it up at school…Akane must've…*

"Hello Ranma-kun! How was your day at school?" Kasumi asked.

"Hmmm… Kasumi… do you… hmmm… by any chance…hmmm.. know…"

"She went outside for a run, Ranma" Kasumi answered.

"Arigatou" he replied while slipping on his shoes and took off running.

The sun was starting to set while a running shadow revealed its owner's face. Wearing her usual training gi, she had strapped weights on her arms and legs. She had been running with a very determined look for quite a while, and every time she ran by a park she stopped there to do many series of crunches, and push-ups, then she would spar a little with an imaginary opponent.

Ranma had finally caught up with her, he had trouble doing so, since she wasn't on her usual running route. Now she was running on a bigger circuit going through most of Nerima's uphill streets. On a roof top while watching Akane on a park he started thinking…

*what's up with her!? Before Jusendo she worked out in the morning, at rational hours, and that was it for the day, Now she wakes up incredibly early, to train, and after school she just continues until she tires herself out… And now this, she's running with weights and has changed her route? What is she up to? I know she's training hard… but what for? She's just making me crazy with this…It's harder to… to…* he drifted off that line of thought when he noticed that Akane was on the run again.

He also started to follow her from roof to roof, then he was very surprised when Akane stopped, looked at the canal fence and jumped on and started walking on it, immediately stretching out her arms for balance. *Damn! What the hell does she think she's doing!?! If she falls in the canal… that tomboy will surely drown!!* his mind panicked.

*Ranma makes it look so easy…* she accepted, as she recuperated her balance with her arms. *Let's try to go faster, maybe its easier to balance…* she started to jog a little, increasing her pace.

*At least she has a little common sense* Ranma calmed himself.

* This is just like a balance beam in gymnastics… well a little narrower, and you don't have pads to ease a fall…o.k. it's harder… but I won't fall!* her determined grin was summoned by her features. 

Akane started running along the fence. * Looks like she's getting the hang of it!* the pigtailed boy noticed. Then, out of nowhere, Akane did a Cartwheel and continued running. *Damn! _OK_, she's barely got good balance… Akane don't push it!!* Ranma scowled.

*Cool! I was able to pull that off!… Hmmm… Let's try some beam exercises…*

She started with a cartwheel, then a forward flip, another cartwheel and a double backward flip, followed by a very high-turning toe touch, a triple back flip, and as she was nearing a bridge, where the fence ended, she did a cartwheel before somersaulting off the fence, and landing perfectly. An incredibly wide eyed Ranma just tried to catch his jaw as it fell open. 

Akane turned around and resumed her running. *God! That fell _good_! If only that baka was here… his jaw would have dropped!…* cheerfully she thought.

*Is that the same klutzy tomboy I'veknown as Akane!?!? The only thing left is, that she wants to improve on her cooking* that thought made him shudder involuntarily.

*I'll show him one of these days… he'll never be able to call me klutzy aaaaaagg…* THUMP! her thought was cut off when she found herself splattered on the ground. A ripped trash bag had caused that a soda can and a banana peel had been perfectly placed on Akane'sway to perform a very ungraceful & abrupt meeting with the concrete below her feet. *again...* her mind finished.

A knowing frown crossed Ranma's amused face *Figures*

A very big weird looking duck was cruising around Nerima's night sky. A little gray-haired head stuck out of the wooden duck.

"Today was good day!" Shampoo accepted. "Although… Airen not take Shampoo on date, to thank Shampoo for saving him from marrying pervert girl !" 

Shampoo was fishing with the cleaning up of the Nekohanten when a figure showed behind the see-through door.

"Mousse… are you done with the last delivery?" *Don't tell me he messed it up again!, without great grandmother here, I'm the only one left for the cooking!* "Mousse!?…"

With an annoyed frown Shampoo walked towards the door and slammed it open. No one was there. She looked all around, watching the lonely Nerima streets. Momentslater Shampoo was on the ground, something knocked her down and entered the restaurant, and she hadn't been able to dodge it or even sense it! Her eyes were wide with shock. 

"You have neglected your training! " a husky voice said.

Her widened eyes glistened with happiness but at the same time a little disgust. "Great-Grandmother…you're finally back!" she gasped.

" Not for long…" Cologne answered.

# 

**Chapter 2:**

**"Returning home"**

Everyone was eating at the table, Ranma was munching quickly watching over his food for Genma's attack. He also spared a couple of glances at Akane 

*Is she mad at me because of the Happosai thing!? It wasn't my fault!!* 

* She is mad at you because you walked out on her while she seriously asked you something…* a voice in his mind answered. 

*where did that come from!?*.

Their eyes met and locked for a few seconds before Akane looked away… * Baka! Always finding excuses!*. 

" I finished, arigatou 'nee-chan" Akane thanked Kasumi. 

"Oh my! But you barely ate" an startled Kasumi replied.

"I've got to continue my training…" Akane stood up from the table.

"But…" Kasumi tried.

"… worried about your weight Akane?" Ranma teased.

" Whatever, Ranma!?!" that was all Akane answered before she went into the changing room for her gi. 

* Nani!? She didn't even mallet me for that!? What the hell is going on!? * Ranma's mind reeled as he finished up his rice bowl. 

" Whaaat!? Why do you have to go back as soon as possible!?" a very disappointed and alarmed Shampoo asked.

" Because the Elders' Council requires me to." Cologne explained.

" But… but… I need to get Airen" " And I need your help, Great grandmother" with that Shampoo tried to pull her cutest pleading face.

" Don't worry… you'll get him, great granddau…erg…Xian Pu…in time." Cologne reassured.

" How !?!" a very excited Shampoo asked.

* Can't let her know, Ranma would never forgive her! He might even kill her! Like he did with Saffron…* " You'll see child, you WILL see."

" Okay… as long as I get Ranma!" humming happily Shampoo resumed her shores while Cologne started her way upstairs.

" Tomorrow, will you tell me what you did in Jusetsusoku, great grandmother?" Shampoo asked.

" Maybe child, may be." Cologne slowly answered while hopping up the stairs.

* Wow! She is very tired. Maybe she is now feeling the REAL weight of her years…* Shampoo thought.

Cologne entered her room, and closed the door behind her, she put her bags down and with a very sad and depressed frown she thought * How can I believe and convince myself that she is no longer my heir! That she is no longer my great granddaughter…* *Well… that is the Amazon way* *Maybe I wish that the letter never came… * A glint of determination and honor shined in Cologne's eyes * It's tradition, It's the law, It's life!*

In that instant Cologne remembered something.

* I hope Ranma can save Shampoo and that both get cured in Jusenkyo * Cologne thought while she was preparing the pick up orders.

A blurred figure snapped Cologne out of her cooking and made her get into her defensive guard. 

" Who is there!? Show yourself, or be a honorless coward!"she demanded in mandarin.

" I am Ying Xu Mai, of the Ying Xu family in the Amazon tribe, I am Ying Ma Rei - sama's great great granddaughter, born to be her heir, and take her seat at the elders' council of Jusetsusoku." The dark long haired young amazon said while bowing deeply. 

" I already know that! " an annoyed Cologne replied. " What are your business here in Japan!?" 

" Take you and your great granddaughter back to China to reassure the honor of the tribe, knowing that the kiss of death vowed to Tendo Akane was fulfilled and the that the marriage to Saotome Ranma be carried out in the tribe's domain, as well" Mai answered while handling a letter to Cologne.

Cologne took the envelope and broke its seal. Taking out and unfolding the paper inside, she started reading its delicately written madarin. In this letter is printed the council's will and command: The council's leader and her heir shall come back to China as soon as this letter is delivered and read, making sure, all the honor-bounding affairs are settled. If the vow of the kiss of death to Tendo Akane hasn't been carried out, it will have to be done immediately. As for Xian Pu's marriage to the outsider, Saotome Ranma, it shall be carried on the tribe's domain. She noted that the only elder that didn't sealed the letter with each of their family signature, was her. * The only thing that is superior than me in the amazon tribe… is the tribe itself… the amazon way…*

" Very well " Cologne replied in her diplomatic tone.

" The tribe can not be without its council's leader for such a long time, like the one you have delayed from fulfilling the tribe's honor" Mai affirmed.

" I know" "My granddaughter is not in Japan right now, actually she is back in China, near Jusetsusoku, she is in Jusenkyo, trying to cure herself and restore her honor, while helping the guide fight a being that endangers the Jusenkyo springs." She answered. * Can't tell her that she was taken by those winged people from mount Phoenix, she'll see that Xian Pu has neglected her training by letting her be possessed by the enemy*

" Where are Tendo Akane and Saotome Ranma?" she asked while bowing slightly at the lack of respect at her way of talking to the elder.

Cologne frowned. " Watch your words child!"

" I apologize, honorable elder, but you must know that the interests and authority of the whole tribe's council are much bigger that its leader and its leader's life itself. In other words, the council's will represents the tribe's thoughts, needs, laws and commands; you are its leader, for your wisdom, courage and battle skills are beyond compare, but you do have to obey the council's decisions and thoughts, even if they don't agree with your own…" Mai almost instructed, earning a burning glare from Cologne. " My superior and respectful elder…" she tried to soften…

"… Ranma Saotome is also in China, with the same purposes as Xian Pu. As for Akane Tendo, I believe she is at her household here in Nerima…" Cologne coldly clarified.

" As I said, my business here, is to carry o the tribe's best interests, and those are to bring you back to our tribe, and see that its honor has been fulfilled" "What would you like me to do, leading elder?" asked Mai.

" We will…" she sighed heavily " fulfill Xian Pu's kiss of death to Tendo Akane for her and the tribe's honor… Afterwards, we will head to China, help Xian Pu and Saotome Ranma recover their honor, if needed; and there, we will hold the marriage ceremony on the tribe's grounds." Cologne determinately planned.

" Do you want me to carry on the deed?" Mai asked.

" No, I want to do it myself, since it is _my_ family's blood that's loosing its honor, not yours Ying Xu Mai" Cologne clarified.

Cologne jumped out through the door, on her staff, followed by Mai.

Two rushing figures approached the Tendo compound, as the loud cries of a man were heard all aroundthe mist stricken Nerima.

The figures settled over the dojo's roof, being able to distinguish the words that the cries loudly carried…

" Oh my daughter, my sweet daughter… where are you…. Who was taken you… and why?!?… whyyy!!?? Buaaaaaaaaaahh…….." the voice of Soun Tendo stirred up the streets.

" Huh?" was all that Mai was able to say befre Cologne jumped into the house, and into the scene of the wrecked father and his two elder daughters trying to comfort him.

" What has happened?" Cologne asked.

"Akane has disappeared" Kasumi said with an obvious concerned frown on her perpetually peaceful features.

" We believe that she was kidnapped by the weird winged people that chased Ranma and, took over & possessed…" a powerful glare from Cologne cut off Nabiki's words…" eeerg…and caused them to go to China" *What was that all about?*.

" Why do you think that?" Cologne calmly asked.

" Because of the trail of _these_ they left behind" Nabiki supported her statement with a couple of black feathers that she waved with her right hand.

A metal duck swung when its door closed.

Inside the roomSoun and his daughters searched the room with the amazons.

"They left quite a mess" Mai noticed.

The room was filled with black feathers. The signs of a brief fight were obvious. The desk was a mess itself, it was also showered with, besides the feathers, all the glass chunks from the broken window and lamp. Akane's books were thrown all over the floor, her pajamas were on her unmade bed. The room was in the same state as the family had found it when they heard all the commotion in the upper floor a couple of hours ago.

"Very well, we shall take care of Tendo Akane in China, since I believe she is also there" Cologne said to Mai in mandarin.

The amazons jumped out the broken window, leaving Nabiki's yelled questions unanswered. 

Cologne continued remembering while tightly grabbing on to her staff. *We got to China. In Josetsusoku, we went to find Xian Pu, Ranma and Akane. Only to be witness of the whole thing: Xian Pu's losing of her privilege state as my heir, Ranma's incredible battle against Saffron, and Akane's courageous stunts to save Ranma… and being declared an Amazon against her will… and my new heir…

# END OF CHAPTER 2

**Author's notes: **

** **

**Thanks for reading!! This is my first fanfic ever! So I really hope you like it!**

** **

**I know Cologne attended the aborted wedding at the finale of the series, but you'll see I _needed_ her to be in China for the story's sake!**

** **

**I need pre-readers & reviewers! =) or any comments & criticism, please write to nm3@hotmail.com!**

** **

**Again, thanks for reading and reviewing! **

** **

**See ya!Ja ne!**


	2. Ch. 3 --> Eyewitness Part 1: Phoenix Win...

This is the story of a cursed martial artist who saves his forced uncute fiancée from the claws of a god; by killing him, for almost killing her, the love of his life. 

When he realizes that he has lost her, no matter what he did, he almost confessed it all, at that exact moment, life went back to her…

When they come back to Japan, uncured; an improvised wedding is organized, well, she is bribed into agreeing and he was "persuaded" by a dozing blow on his neck. The pig-tailed boy, after waking up in a tuxedo, rushes to the girl's room. He gets stricken by her beauty, but also with the news that the cure is under the same roof… while denying his feelings towards her.

Well, as you know this martial artist is a trouble magnet, so, his other 3 fiancées showed up: a crazed Chinese Amazon, a cross dressing okonomiyaki chef, a deluded poisoning gymnast; with his rivals for Akane's affection *not that he'd admit he wants it…*: a poetry-vomiting bokken-swinging jerk, a forever lost pig boy; a couple of more people who want the cure for the Jusenkyo curses: a blind Amazon goose and a coward sign-writing panda; add a perverted old freak, a money-thirsty sister-in-law, a flood-like weeping father-in-law and viola!… the perfect recipe for a disastrous wedding.

Well, after it, his 'almost' father-in-law declared it was only "overtime".

So, this story is about what happens during & after the overtime. This story is about what happens… BEYOND

**Beyond**

**A Ranma ½continuative alterverse fan fiction by nm3**

** **

Disclaimers: This is a fan fiction based on the characters made & owned by the ingenious Rumiko Takahashi, which I, without her permission (like millions of fans out there) borrowed for the sole propose of creating this humble non-profit fic.Gomen! Takahashi-sama!

One last thing, this story has lots of **_SPOILERS ½!!_** and it may be better that you know the end of the series ( Volume 38 ) =).

*…* are thoughts

Things spoken in mandarin

~~ stuff ~~( he he!)

That's it! ^_^

On with the story!

**Chapter 3:**

# "Eyewitness: Part 1"

## "Phoenix Wings"

Cologne continued remembering while tightly grabbing on to her staff. 

*We got to China. In Josetsusoku, we went to find Xian Pu, Ranma and Akane. Only to be witness of the whole thing: Xian Pu's losing of her privilege state as my heir, Ranma's incredible battle against Saffron, and Akane's courageous stunts to save Ranma… and being declared an Amazon against her will… and my new heir…

** **

~~ Cologne's Flash back continues ~~

"Summon our ten best warriors, and pack up supplies for 5 days. We will leave as soon as the preparations are ready and the warriors arrive" Cologne ordered.

"Ying Xu Mai, you may come, if you want."

"The whole council wants to be in the quest, Cologne-sama" Ying Ma Rei declared.

"I don't see why you should bother, I think that the 10 warriors and I can handle any trouble" 

"It will take longer if you wait for those training youngsters to arrive, and if we all go, we will definitely conquer victory" Rei said.

" Besides, we all are curious about the legendary winged creatures of mount Phoenix, we want to know if all those legends about them are true, to see it with our own eyes."Kang Li Kira, the youngest elder, finished.

" We might even pick up a new technique or magic , who knows?" young Mai added, while her great grandmother scowled her.

"You shouldn't be going… but I won't question Cologne's judgment" Rei clarified.

"Well, then" Cologne added "We will leave as soon as the supplies are ready." out loud, she finished. 

* Maybe that was my first mistake, letting myself be convinced by their wishes to go… I shouldn't have permitted them…. But I could not stop the unstoppable.* Cologne quickly added to herself.

"Be extremely careful while walking around the springs, we don't want anyone getting a new pet name" Kira finished.

"Indeed" Cologne reassured.

"I see you've come to train here, Kira" Cologne asked

Kira is the youngest of the elders, she is barely 168 years old, and looks like a lady in her late 40's. Her mother died very early, at her 432 years, so she assumed her seat at the council, at a very young age to be an elder. 

" Yes, my mother brought me a couple of times, before her sickness, I think she wanted to 'test' me" Kira added with moisture in her eyes. She still lacked the years of experience to be able to hide all her feelings and weaknesses, when remembering…

"Hey!! Look!!" Mai exclaimed

Everyone gasped.

"The springs…" Kira started

"…are drying!" Cologne finished

" But why?" Mai asked.

"They have broken into Jusendo…" Rei clarified

"… the source of the magic water of the Jusenkyo springs…"

* If they haven't been cured, they have lost their chance… forever!* Cologne's mind reeled. * Xian Pu's honor… unfulfilled*

" Look, some outsiders!" a guard said.

" S… son-in-law…" Cologne gasped, she couldn't miss that fire red hair, even from that far distance. She saw them staring at the dried springs.

" Aren't we going to help them?" Kira asked taking a few steps forward.

" No, we will not interfere, we are only here to find Xian Pu and Saotome Ranma, and be witnesses of the retrieval of their honor. We will also find Akane Tendo to let Xian Pu carry on the vow of the kiss of death herself, to fulfill all honor bounding affairs." Cologne said while stopping Kira.

" We will follow them at a fair distance, without being noticed" Cologne added. "… and, we will _only_ interfere if Xian Pu's life is in direct danger, understood?… we will not endanger Amazon blood for outsiders…not even for Mousse, he is a mere male, andwe will not endanger Xian Pu's opportunity to regain her honor back, either" 

"Look, they're going somewhere" Mai affirmed.

"We will set camp in that clearing, if needed" Cologne pointed it with her staff. The clearing was in the Jusenkyo valley, but a little further away from the springs, for obvious reasons.

"You two" she addressed the guards. "You will watch out closely in that direction" pointing to where Ranma & Co. went "…Any moment you notice any movement, you shall let us know, wake us up, what ever it takes, we can't loose their trail…On that very second, we will leave after them, so be ready to get going on that very moment" She finished, addressing everyone, mainly, Mai.

" Kira, Rei, I need to have a word with you…"

Both of them looked up and saw Cologne's serious expression.

They followed the staff bouncing elder to a bunch of rocks hidden behind some bushes.

"Cologne may I ask a stupid question? " Kira tried.

" Yes, what is it child? " Kira frowned at that last word…*but I _am_ an elder!!*

*sigh* " Hmmm…. Why are you always jumping & balancing on that staff, all the time?"

" Well, This staff is precious to me. You see, my mother gave it to me when I was 7 years old, as part of my training, she said I needed more balance for the new techniques I was about to learn, so I had to bounce on it and stand with it, It was strange at the beginning, but when I got used to it, It was an advantage, I could see over crowds, use it as a weapon or an instrument. I stopped using it as I grew up, but when I found it, when cleaning, I just got too used to it again…" Cologne clarified.

With a 'pout', Kira realized " Of course! … brilliant!"

"What is it that you wanted to talk to us about?" a bored Rei asked.

"Yes, well, I wanted to ask you if you know _anything_ about 'the secret of Jusendo'… I heard Plum, the guide's daughter, addressing the map as such"

" Well, I don't know what that is about, I know that Jusendo is where the magic Jusenkyo waters come from but that's all" Rei answered.

Cologne & Rei turned around ad stared at Kira.

" Hey, Hey! Don't look at me! How would I know more…" with a sober expression, Kira finished"I know as much as Rei just said".

"Well, don't worry, we thought that maybe your mother knew something and that… she was only capable of telling you, in her death bed…" Cologne clarified.

" I know you still regret the fact that we went into the mountains for 6 months, before she died, but I just wanted her to be… to die… happy" she finished in broken mandarin, but with dry eyes.

" Of course…"

"THE OUTSIDERS ARE ON THE RUN AGAIN!!"the guards yelled to the whole group.

" Let's GO!" Cologne yelled at the very moment she started bouncing on her staff, and the rest where on their feet, running after her.

"Remember what I said before!" and with that Cologne speed sprouted taking the lead.

" It is a damn fortress!" Ranma cursed.

Cologne stopped abruptly and signaled everyone else to do the same. Some hid behind some bushes and the rest behind some rocks. They were all hearing the conversation very carefully.

"It seems like it has thousands of doors, but all of the doors except the correct one, are bobby-trapped…" Plum warned.

" Then which one is the correct one?" Ranma asked.

"He, he, eh… I forgot!" Plum simple replied.

Ranma plopped.

"Let's use this door!" Plum cheered while pointed a door, which was named 'Employee entrance'.

" O.." started Ranma.

" Ok" finished Ryoga.

"Yes" agreed Mousse.

Genma Panda pulled out a sign saying ' Are you sure!?'

Cologne jumped out from the bushes at the same time that Ranma, Ryoga & Mousse jumped into the slammed open door.

" Keep your eyes peeled!" Ranma warned

Then, as a magnet attracts metal, water seemed to jump out of nowhere.

" Gah!! Cold water!"

Cologne and the rest of the amazons ran forward only to see Xian Pu.

" Mistress Kiima has ordered: I must destroy all intruders!" Xian Pu yelled while she charged with her bonbori.

* Oh no!! She's still under Kiima's control*

At the same time, Ranma said out loud exactly what Cologne was thinking.

" I *dodge* must *dodge* disarm *dodge* her… *dodge**dodge**dodge* without hurting *dodge* her!" Ranma grabbed one of the bonbori and half disarmed Xian Pu.

She jumped up the stairs, at the very same time Ranma yelled "Mousse! Trap her while she's out of reach!"

Mousse's chains trapped Xian Pu in mid air.

"An opening!" Ranma pinned Xian Pu against the floor.

*The Outsider is good…* was the thought that surfed through most of the Amazon's heads.

" Isn't she the outsider who defeated…" Mai tried to ask.

"Shhh!"

Cologne nodded affirmatively.

"We are your friends, Shampoo, try to remember!" Ranmatried to pound reason into her brain.

"Shampoo have no friends" Xian Pu replied in bad Japanese.

"What are they saying?" the couple of guards asked. All the elders scowled them, while Mai quickly explained.

Xian Pu kicked her remaining bonbori. It developed a perfect trajectory towards the Panda. Genma'hiiyaa'ed the bonbori open, and some eggs flew out of it, breaking and enveloping the Panda, making a giant egg.

"Surikomi eggs!!" all the elders silently cursed.

*So… this is how they possessed Xian Pu…* Cologne realized.

" Aiya! Now the Panda is an egg!" a wide-eyed Plum affirmed the obvious.

"Pop!" Ranma yelled. Concern flowed through his feminine features while staring at his now egg father.

Xian Pu used Ranma´s distraction to bump him down

" Xian Pu has you now!". She started to free herself from the chains.

"Stop the girl! The Panda is inside of those eggs that we saw before…The Panda will become her slave if she is the first being that the Panda sees when he comes out of the egg!!" plum yelled, while Xian Pu jumped towards the egg.

"KIAI!" Xian Pu yelled with her bonbori leading the way to break the egg.

"Not if I can help it!" 

With incredible speed, Ranma got up and kicked the egg away from Xian Pu, whose bonbori slammed the floor. 

" Oh no! You won't…"

Ranma got up and cracked the egg with his flattened hand. 

" Get out a there, Pop!" 

Ranma took Genma by his collar.

" Hey Pop!! Look at me!" Ranma yelled.

" Pop!??" was all Ranma said before he started shaking and slapping the dozed Panda.

" Wake up, ya old man!!" Ranma's girlish voice echoed in his mind.

Genma opened his eyes, but the second before, Xian Pu had jumped on Ranma's head, pining him, head first, into the ground, and now she was glaring into the Panda's eyes.

" Panda will now eliminate intruders!" Xian Pu ordered her new slave.

Genma pulled a sign that read 'Yes, mistress Shampoo!'

" Uh oh…" escaped Ranma's lips.

"Bweek!"

The Panda started a full attack on Ranma-onna, Ryoga-pig & Mousse-duck.

" Ack! *dodge* Ack! *dodge* Ehh! *dodge*" 

" Mental control has slowed you down, old man!" Ranma affirmed it with a double kick right on Genma's cheek.

A mighty kick flew towards Ranma's face.

"Damn!" was all Ranma could say before he was sent flying across the room, with a pig and a duck close behind.

"I forgot about Shampoo" Ranma said on his short flight.

" This is bad! Plum will help honorable guests!" she said while pulling something.

Ranma, Ryoga & Mousse hit the wall behind them, and instantly disappeared.

" Aiya!! They're gone!" Xian Pu finished, before taking off, with Genma behind, in search of Ranma.

After they were left alone, they left their respective hiding places.

"What happened?" the guards asked.

"Who knows!" Mai replied

"I clearly heard Plum say that she was going to help them… but how did she?" Kira asked.

Cologne walked to the center of the room and stared at the walls. She started tapping the wall with her staff. *Solid* *solid* *solid* *weird* she tapped a couple of times more. With a knowing grin on her features, she turned around.

" They escaped through…" Cologne was cut off.

"…a secret door." Rei finished.

" Of course!" Kira finished with a 'pout'. " Since the whole place is bobby-trapped, the ones who built it must have had some way to get in and walk around safely!"

" Not the whole place has traps, because if that's true, they would have triggered lots of traps during the fight" Cologne corrected.

Kira was looking for the thing that opened the secret door, where Plum had been standing.

" We better walk through the normal tunnels, since we don't know this place, and be might get lost on the darkened secret ones" Rei tried to convince the group.

" You may be right" Said Cologne. "We will continue through this tunnel, but if we are in danger of being discovered, we will go through the secret tunnels instead, understood". Everyone nodded.

"Look!" Kira semi-cheered "This is how you open the secret doors" 

With a loud "CREAK!" the wall where Ranma & Co. disappeared into, opened.

" And when you let go…" Kira let go of a tiny rock connected to a black chain. The wall closed almost immediately, making an equally loud "CRAEK!"

"… it closes" Kira finished.

" Very well… Let's get moving!" Cologne ordered.

A deafening sound yelled through the tunnels.

"What's that!?!?" Mai asked.

"Some sort of alarm…. Come on…" Cologne ordered.

"I see some light coming out of there!" Mai cheered.

Leading, Cologne slowed her pace and neared the entrance on another room cautiously, so did the rest of the Amazon group.

There was an opening inside the mountain, a precipice, huge logs that were used as bridges, to link the tunnels, crossed it.

A subtle mumble of commotion started to sound as if unpredictable disaster was nearing the precipice. 

It was.

A chinese outfit hugged a girl who was running across one of the huge logs. She was being chased by a rather large group of winged guards, including Masara and Koruma.

"There she is!"

" You won't escape from us!"

They were all shooting arrows and rushing to catch their runaway.

Deflecting the well-aimed arrows with a cell bar, Akane tried to run away. In that same moment, a door that was much higher, abruptly opened, revealing a confused Ranma and a yelling Plum.

"I won't give up!!" Akane yelled.

" Did you see that?" one of the elders, Key Ling, exclaimed.

" Is she Kiima? NO!…" *they would not attack their very own captain!* Ranma's mind reasoned.

*Oh Kami… I need help!* Akane thought.

" She is the _real_ Akane…. HEY! AKANE!!" he yelled.

"Get her" 

Arrows flew from all directions 

And from the heavens, help came! Ranma leaped through his "I´m coming Akane!!"

" Uh no! you won't!" defied Koruma.

" Ran…MAA" was all Akane said before Koruma and Masara caught her.

"You… RATS!!" Ranma cursed when he saw Akane being taken away from him, again.

"Mousse!" Ranma ordered. Mousse attached one of his chains to one of the pursuing guards' torso. "Hey!"

Ranma swung above Koruma & Masara, kicking them on their heads, full force.

" Ahh!!I'm falling!"Akane panicked at the vision of the bottomless pit under her.

Ranma flew to grab her. " Gotcha!"

" 'Bout time"Akane smiled.

At that very moment, the guard disengaged from Mousse's chain. And the group started their downward descent.

" We'll go into that tunnel" Ranma yelled.

Everyone looked at the whole-like-tunnel that was miraculously in front of the falling group.

But the group's trajectory wasn't good enough…

" Kerr!" Everyone except Akane 'splatted' just above the tunnel, on the wall, and Akane fell inside, disappearing.

Ranma, P-chan, Mousse, and Plum were pealed from the wall by gravity and started to fall…

" RAAANMAAA!!!" a desperate yell was heard. * Not now!! It can't end like this!* Akane prayed.

" RANNNMAAA." The shout was caught off when the Japanese shorthaired girl's mouth was covered and a shadow engulfed her.

A moment later a loud 'Splash' came from the base of the pit.

" They're gone!… How ??" 

" I think the fell here… You see? I told you it was more than just a spring!"

The guards commented between themselves while looking for the runaways into a spring, which resembled a fish gargling after brushing his teeth.

" What are they saying!?" the guards asked.

" It seems like they fell in that spring, that is more than meets the eye… So they say…" Mai sarcastically said "It just seems like a weird looking spring to me."

" Let's get moving! Those guards there may see us… Follow me, quietly" Cologne hopped from rock to rock that stuck out of the wall, to reach a nearby tunnel. The rest of the Amazon group did the same.

They were walking cautiously down the tunnel, aware that now many guards were spread out, searching…

" Did you noticed…?" whispering, the elder Key Ling almost asked the group.

" What?" some chorused.

" The glow, that… flicker, on that girl's chi…" Key Ling triedto explain.

" Yeah, It was weird, a little impressive… but THAT can't be! She's not an Amazon!" Tsuli Koimi, another elder, added.

" She isn't even a descent martial artist" Cologne finished.

All the elders, except Key Ling, shook their heads and almost chorused a sober "No, it is not"

*What are they talking about * Mai asked herself, and tried to ask out loud, but was silence by Cologne's "Make a line behind me, Mai, you stay behind at the tail" when they where about to get to the exit of the tunnel.

An * Aaw man!!* expression crossed Mai's face.

Cologne reached a peak that was a dead end. To her near left there was another peak, ending another tunnel.In front of them there where two big figures…

"These are the phoenix and the dragon" a voice wearily audible came from her left.

*Akane?…*

Guards surrounded both enormous statues.

" Look! There's that girl and the Jusenkyo springs guide" one of the guards noted.

" Quiet down!" Rei ordered.

"…Yes, honorable guest, look, there you can see that both the Phoenix and the Dragon are connected to the same body, at the base… The body goes deep down the mountain, where the source of the magical water is." the guide explained.

" The only way to restore Jusenkyo water is to put the key on dragon's head… As you can see, honorable guest,it's easier said than done!"

" Those statues are like pumps for the water below!… It's not that hard!! Let me try it!" Akane realized while trying to get a better glimpse…

" Eeepp!"

The guide forcefully pushed Akane to the ground.

" Honorable guest, please, lower your head!" 

"Mai" the other guard whispered " What are they saying?" Mai tried to whisper an explanation while paying attention to the conversation on the other peak.

Saffron appeared from one of the tunnels below them, carrying the kinjakan; Kiima and his old counselor followed him.

" That's Kiima!!… I still owe a lit-tle somethin' to that birdie!"

" The boy that is with her, is Saffron, the prince of mount Phoenix. They are all very dangerous…" the guide warned.

" My lord Saffron, The time has come to initiate your voyage. You must put the Kinjakan on the Phoenix's head" The old counselor tried to guide Saffron, kneeling to him.

" Yeah! Yeah! I already know…" Saffron snapped.

With a sudden thrust, Saffron incrusted the kinjakan into the Phoenix's scalp.

" What's with the brightness?"

" Kinjakan generates great heat when it shines. This relic was created to make the water bud pure and very hot"

Finally, Saffron twisted the incrusted kinjakan.

" My lord Saffron, the time is near. Shall you please enter the bathing area?… Hot water will flow from the Phoenix, any second now…."

" Aiyaa!!… It is too late!!… Once the hot water erupts, cold water will be gone…" the guide exclaimed.

" Nani? " Akane sweat dropped.

" There is only one water source… all Jusenkyo water will disappear!" Akane was explained to.

" And what the hell are we doing here sitting around, doing nothing!?!?" Akane punched the guide hard on the head.

" Too many guards. Too dangerous to try something now…" 

" And what about with ' Risking your life for Jusenkyo' !?!? I thought this was your whole life!!!"

" Guide can't abandon wife and little daughter…"

A thought crossed Cologne's mind…* Figures… she just _needs_ to argue… and _hit_ someone, whoever that is!*

" WHAT THE HELL!?!?… THE WATER ISN'T COMING OUT…"

" What's happening to this thing??!"

" Something inside it must be blocking the water's exit… wonder what that could be??.."

Some strange noises erupted from the Phoenix's mouth…

Suddenly… HOT water exploded from the mouth… 

" Gwaahh!!!" 

…Accompanied by a male Ranma, an unconscious Plum, a bandana clad only Ryoga and a nude Mousse.

" Raannmaaa!" Akane yelled.

" What the…!!" Kiima cursed.

" Damn!" Ranma cursed, coughing between gasps.

" I thought that tunnel would _never_ end!" Mouse tried to say.

Ranma was finally able to lift his gaze…

" Saffron!!" Ranma re-cursed

Ranma jumped towards Saffron…

"I'll reduce to a pulp, you freakin' brat!"

With that said, Ranmacracked the floor below his feet, using said brat's body.

" Lord Saffron!!" Kimma war cried, unsheathing her sword, trying to attack Ranma.

A chain that went around her wrist persuaded her otherwise… and a powerful "take that!" swing from Ryoga sent her crashing against a very ungentle rock.

" It's time for you to pay what you've done, you little bastard!!" Ranma shouted to Saffron's face, while strangling him against the cracked floor."I strained myself before, 'cause you seemed only a stupid spoiled kid, now I'm seriously reconsidering that!!!"

" Ha! Keep your compassion to yourself, peasant!"

…Meanwhile the water has been pouring down, and was pooling in the bath area…

"Whaatt??" confusion flowed in Ranma's head

A weird energy field started to grow from Saffron…

" Lord Saffron!!"

"Old man… What's happening!!" a winged guard asked, panic in his voice.

"Ooohh!!… The transformation has begun"the old an explained. "Don't just stand there, staring, you idiots!! Run!!! Run away!! The one who gets caught in that energy field will be fried chicken!!"

" Eeepp!!!"

"Outta my way!!.."

Hair like strings grew around Ranma's hands…

" What the hell!??! I can't break loose!" Ranma tried…

" Ha! Ha! Ha! Ranma... you are so naive, like all terrestrials…"

"You'll be fuel for my Renaissance!"

*Fuel?? What's happening!?!* Ranma's mind 'almost' panicked.

" Oh Kami-sama! What are all those strings!?!" Akane did panic.

" Heirs of mount Phoenix produce strings to create a transformation egg" the guide answered. " Whoever is grabbed by those strings, gets caught by an egg. The person is dissolved and is used as fuel for the transformation… Very cruel way to die… That boy's tragic destiny…"

* Son-in-law…* 

"Should we help him?"

"It would be quite a horrible death!"

Cologne took a few moments to answer… *Sorry Ranma*… " What did I tell you all!! NO INTERFERING !!! only, and only if Xian Pu's well being is at stake… no one else's…"

" The hot water is what's causing it!!" Mousse realized

" That brat!! He's reacting to the hot water, and those strings he's making…" Ryoga lost his words… "…And this can't be happening!" Ryoga tried to do something by breaking a whole that would drain the hot-pooled water.

" These freakin' strings are too strong!! I can't rip 'em off!" Ranma tried to explain.

Thousands of glowing hairs enveloped Ranma's wrists.

" You have no escape!!"

Saffron threw a wave of strings, and tied them around Ranma's neck, sending him flying…

…and crashing him hard into the cracked ground.

" Give it up!! As long as the hot water flows down to me… You're doomed!!" Saffron felt victory.

A chain encircled Ranma's torso, wrapping him.

" Hold on, Ranma!! I've got you!" Mousse shouted.

Suddenly, the hairy strings climbed up the chain heading towards Mousse.

" Mousse!! Stay Back! Don't touch those things!! If you do, they'll catch you too!!" Ranma yelled back.

Mousse cut off his chain, and Ranma fell…

* Shit!! Where the hell my strength went!!?! * … * I can't die like this!! Not 'cause of this stupid brat!!*

Akane jumped off the peak and landed on the Phoenix's neck.

"I've got to stop the water! It's the only way to save him!" Akane yelled to the guided while rushing to the kinjakan.

*Oh Kami! What is she up to!!* Cologne's mind reeled…

"Look!! The glow, the flicker!!…Again!!" Key Ling exclaimed.

The elders were not sure… but they were impressed, nonetheless.

"Aiyaaa!!! Please, honorable guest!! Don't do it! Is extremely dangerous!!" the guide shouted an unheard warning to Akane.

" Akane!" Ryoga was the first to notice her.

* How the hell did she get here??* Ranma asked

" Oh Noo!! OH NOO!!"… "Please!! Don't do it!!! Kinjakan very _veeryy_ dangerous when hot!" the guide warned again.

Akane finally climbed the Phoenix's head, grabbed the kinjakan, and tried to twist it, yelling " Ranmaaa!!!Try to escape as soon as you can!! Quickly!!"

Meanwhile, Kiima, the old counselor and all the guards where hiding.

" Oh Noo! What the hell does she think she's doing?!?" the old man shrieked.

" Foolish Terrestrial!! Does she love that boy that much??" Kiima asked out loud to no one.

" I will not let you interfere!!" 

Saffron tossed another wave of strings at Akane…

" Gyaa!!"

…but it was too late, she had already twisted the kinjakan.

A painful noise cried from within the Phoenix.

" The water has stopped flowing!! Run away, Ranmaaa!" Ryoga shouted.

" Rrrgg!! I'm workin' on it!" 

Many strings snapped, and Ranma ripped himself loose.

" Look!! The glow is brighter !! it seems like it is turning on!" Key Ling noticed. As well as the rest of the amazons did.

Ranma lifted his gaze to meet Akane's sight.

" Akane?!?Thanks!!! I'm s…" Ranma was cut off by his most feared sight…

Intensive light started to attack Akane's glowing form while she hung to tightly to the kinjakan. Ranma's panic began to choke him. Both, the kinjakan's shine, and Akane's chi's glow started to flood the chamber. Finally, brightness blinded their eyesight.

" Akaaaaaaaaneeeeeee!!!" Ranma yelled

" THOSE are…"

"The legendary Phoenix Wings!" the elders chorused.

*And that was the exact moment where Akane's life changed for ever…*

* Including the amazons', Xian Pu's and mine…*

#### END OF CHAPTER 3 PART 1

**Author's notes: **

** **

**Thanks for reading!! This is my first fanfic ever! So I really hope you like it!**

****

**This chapter is a draft, so sorry for the grammar/spelling bloopers! **

** **

**Gomen!!!Sooorryyy!!! For taking so long in writing this 3rd part! ^_^ but I've been busy doing prep for college! (Thiswill be my 1st year… from Senior to freshman again! He he!)**

** **

**I need pre-readers & reviewers! =) or any comments & criticism, please write to nm3@hotmail.com!**

** **

**Again, thanks for reading and reviewing! … Ahh! By the way!! Thanks_a lot_ to everyonefor their encouraging reviews!! ****Honto ni arigatou!! ^_^**

** **

**See ya!Ja ne!**

^_^Nm3^_^

**" The ones who love us, love us. The ones who doesn't love us, doesn't; may God turn the hearts of those who doesn't, and if he can't, may he turn their heels, so we can tell them apart by their limping"**

### Someone 

(sorry!, I don't remember where or from who I heard it!)


	3. Ch. 4 --> Interrupted

This is the story of a cursed martial artist who saves his forced uncute fiancée from the claws of a god; by killing him, for almost killing her, the love of his life. 

When he realizes that he has lost her, no matter what he did, he almost confessed it all, at that exact moment, life went back to her…

When they come back to Japan, uncured; an improvised wedding is organized, well, she is bribed into agreeing and he was "persuaded" by a dozing blow on his neck. The pig-tailed boy, after waking up in a tuxedo, rushes to the girl's room. He gets stricken by her beauty, but also with the news that the cure is under the same roof… while denying his feelings towards her.

Well, as you know this martial artist is a trouble magnet, so, his other 3 fiancées showed up: a crazed Chinese Amazon, a cross dressing okonomiyaki chef, a deluded poisoning gymnast; with his rivals for Akane's affection *not that he'd admit he wants it…*: a poetry-vomiting bokken-swinging jerk, a forever lost pig boy; a couple of more people who want the cure for the Jusenkyo curses: a blind Amazon goose and a coward sign-writing panda; add a perverted old freak, a money-thirsty sister-in-law, a flood-like weeping father-in-law and violà!… the perfect recipe for a disastrous wedding.

Well, after it, his 'almost' father-in-law declared it was only "overtime".

So, this story is about what happens during & after the overtime. This story is about what happens… BEYOND

**Beyond**

**A Ranma ½continuative alter verse fan fiction by nm3**

** **

Disclaimers: This is a fan fiction based on the characters made & owned by the ingenious Rumiko Takahashi, which I, without her permission (like millions of fans out there) borrowed for the sole propose of creating this humble non-profit fic.Gomen! Takahashi-sama!

One last thing, this story has lots of **_SPOILERS ½!!_** and it may be better that you know the end of the series ( Volume 38 ) =).

*…* are thoughts

Things spoken in mandarin

~~ stuff ~~( he he!)

That's it! ^_^

Without more ado…

On with the story!

**Chapter 3:**

# "Interrupted"

*And that was the exact moment where Akane's life changed for ever…*

*Including the amazons', Xian Pu's and mine…*

Cologne was now sitting on her bead, with an expression of shock printed on her face.

* How can a mere normal, untrained girl like Akane possess such a great gift?… I would understand if Ranma had it…. But Akane?*

Sweat beads started to form around Cologne's head.

*She isn't even able to cook something half descent!*

The sweat drops disappeared while a sober expression covered the ancient's face.

*Something we will work on…*

*But how… how!?!*

*The Phoenix Wings are one of the biggest signs of immense potential in existence. They seem to appear on a single person in all humanity, almost every 300 to 500 human years. *

*For thousands of years, the Gods have awarded the Joketsusoku tribe by providing them leaders of such power, to help them with the difficult task of fighting against great threats. That is one of the many reasons the amazons begin their training as soon as possible… the early detection of the new leader of the tribe and the early knowledge of a new threat… We've known that only long, hard, disciplined training is able to bring out the Phoenix Wings for eyesight to notice… but Akane has definitely NOT had a hard, long, disciplined training… not even a proper one. Then… how can she handle the Phoenix Wings?*

An interrupting knock was performed on Cologne's door.

" Grandmother, Are you alright?" 

Concern crept out of Shampoo's question.

" I'm fine, Xian Pu."

"Would you like something to eat? I have some fresh special Ramen ready for us. I thought you would like something to eat after long long trip back." 

" Thank you. I will be right down."

* I will do some research on my scrolls later…*

The merry music that came from the television was accompanied by the laughter emitted by alcohol influenced Genma and Soun. The chorus made by both noises was annoying enough to divert Ranma's attention from his manga.

" Can you keep it down!?!"

The answer to Ranma's request was a wave of renewed and louder laughter.

" Arg…hmpf.." Ranma murmured something about alcohol dependent stupid old people while getting up from his stomach-on-floor position.

He was walking down the hall to his room when he heard Akane's millionth war declaration to some pile of concrete bricks.

*Man! It's almost nine thirty… She's been training in the dojo for hours*

"Shit!!"a pain filled curse came from the dojo. 

*Better see what happened!*

Ranma rushed to the dojo, trying to appear relaxed and casual when entering it. Inside, she discovered Akane holding her left hand with her right one. Pain was escaping through her features. Then he saw two big piles of debris beside both of her feet.

Slipping from his 'casual' act, Ranma rushed to Akane's side.

" Akane, what happened?"

"Nothing, I just been practicing"

Ranma saw that both of her hands were red and sore.

Then he looked down to where the debris ad sort of calculated the amount of boards of wood and bricks she used.

" I thought you were using bricks…"

" I was starting to run out of them, so I grabbed left over wood from the last repairs"

"That's a hell of a lot of bricks and wood… Were you trying to break both piles with one hand each?"

" Yes"

Slowly, Akane started to flex her left hand, opening and closing in a fist, testing out the damage. The pain drained a little color out of her cheeks.

" Akane, you dummy, you've always practiced with your right hand, and then out of the blue, you expect that in one night you can be able to breaklots of bricks and wood, and be ableto focus your chi equally on both hands, one being untrained…"

" Why do you care? Huh? Remember… I'm just 'worried 'bout my weight'!" Akane tried to imitate Ranma sarcastically with a very dumb sounding voice.

*She is mad 'bout that little joke?*

" Huh hm?" Akane formed a couple of tight fists at her sides, glaring at Ranma. Again, pain attacked Akane's nerves because of the involuntary angry reaction. Letting go of her anger and ignoring Ranma, Akane went back to nursing her left hand with her right one.

Ranma looked down at Akane's hands and then at her pain narrowed eyes. 

Ranma took a step closer to Akane, and reached for Akane's left hand. Poking it a little with his thumb, he tried to examine it.

" Baka! It hurts!" Akane whined a little at Ranma's examination, taking back her hand, but Ranma held it tight.

Akane relaxed a little when she saw that Ranma stopped poking her sore hand, instead he almost caressed it with his right index finger.

Looking up, Ranma let a little of his concern show through his gaze.

" Akane… Why are you doing it?… you know, training so hard, and everything?" Ranma asked almost as a whisper.

Their eyes locked. Akane loved those very few times when Ranma's deep blue eyes wore that concerned gaze. Ranma just loved the shockwave that produced gazing into Akane's big brown shiny eyes.

Ranma's involuntary caress made Akane's whole body tingle. She snapped out of it and remembered that she has to be mad at him, for the weight joke, the walkout in school, the wedding fiasco… but most of all, because of his denial…

" Ahh… That's none of your business!!"

With that said, Akane snatched her hand back, sheltered it on her right one, turned on her heel, and almost ran out of the dojo.

" Akane, Wait! Dammit!" Ranma was just able to speak to Akane's retreating back.

*Akane… _you_are_my_ business* a thought crossed Ranma's head, looking down at the dojo floor.

*You should just forget about him, girl!* thought the exiting Akane while starring at the hall's floor.

*You know you will never be able to do that…* a voice echoed in Akane's mind. 

*Where the hell did _that_ came from!* both young minds chorused while both of their gazes lifted up simultaneously.

The sipping up sound caused by eating Ramen was the only heard in at one of the tables at the Nekohanten.

" Grandmother…?"

Cologne swallowed. "Yes, Xian Pu?"

" Hhmm… What is your new plan to get Airen?"

" You will see "

"Please, grandmother, tell me, I really want to know"

Excitement flooded Shampoo's eyes.

" Don't be impatient, child"

" But, how Can I get plan to work if I don't even know it!"

" You know it by heart, child" a chuckling Cologne acknowledged.

" So you have no plan!"

A little anger dawned on Shampoo's gaze.

" I do, child, but the only one that is going to perform it, is me"

" So, tell me"

" No need to"

" Hmpf… OK"

Shampoo crossed her arms.

" Then tell me a little 'bout trip"

" I may tell you later…"

" That sounds like another secret you hiding from Xian Pu, great grandmother… What's with all the mystery?"

" Don't worry child… I'm just too tired for long talks now…"

Cologne continued eating.

Shampoo just stared at her grandmother.

" Oyasuminasai " Akane said 'Good Night', before closing her door.

Dressed in her pale yellow pajamas, Akane lay on her bed, and turned off the light. She tossed and turned for a while, and discovered that all those thoughts weren't going to let her go to sleep.

Another figure also tossed and turned helplessly on his futon.

* Why do I still _try_ to sleep here? I should just give up and move my futon up to the roof…*

Ranma sighed deeply.

* I can't go on like this. I have to do somethin'… What will I do when the rainy season starts?* a dreadful frown formed on his face. 

Ranma got up, and did exactly what he had done every single night since they came back from Jusendo, he grabbed his pj's, his sheets and pillow, and started his quiet way up the roof, over Akane's room.

" Arg… hmmpf… Stupid old hentai!" 

Ranma was climbing up the roof. He just discovered Happosai trying to sneak into Akane's room while she was sleeping, Ranma sent him quickly on a quiet trip to dreamy land with a quick and angered blow to the head.

Ranma lifted his gaze to the roof.

Two simultaneous gasps could be heard on top of the roof of the Tendo residence. 

" Ranma?"

" A..Akane?"

" What are you doing here?" the question chorused on their ears.

Akane giggled.

Ranma reacted with a smile at Akane's giggling form. She was hugging her knees, sitting exactly on top of her room.

Ranma finished climbing up, walked towards Akane, and sat on his pillow beside her and wrapped himself on his sheet.

" I just couldn't sleep" Ranma replied to the question first.

" Me neither. Say… What's with the pillow and the sheets?.."

" He he… I often come up here… to think and sort things out… This just makes being here even more comfortable."

" Ha haa! _You_ come here to think? To sort things out?… Is Ranma Saotome really capable of doing _that_, you know, thinking?"

" Hey!! You…"

Ranma was actually able to stop the wave of insults that started to pile up in his mind, when he saw Akane giggling at her joke.

" Sorry! Gomen! I just wasn't able to stop myself! You just left the opportunity open…" the giggling Akane apologized lightly.

* She's so kawaii, so cute when she smiles* the thought made Ranma blush. 

" Don't worry…Heh heh! I do that all the time with you!" he _tried_ to joke.

" Rrranmaaa!" 

" Calm down! I was joking!"

A little awkward silence was ended by the whistling sound of the chilly wind.

Akane shivered involuntarily.

" What a piece of my sheet?"

Akane turned her sight to Ranma's, she saw him moving to one of the edges of his pillow, with an arm extended, offering her half of his sheet.

He shifted his position and lifted his gaze and saw her staring at him. He blushed and turned away his gaze.

" That is if you are cold…"

Ranma lowered his arm, supporting it on the other edge of his pillow. But still offering shelter.

As if to persuade her more, the chilly wind blew again.

With his gaze away, Ranma felt Akane sitting next to him on his pillow. She grabbed the sheet and put it around her shoulders. Since Ranma's left hand was still grabbing the sheet's edge, Akane's action transported Ranma's hand from the edge of the pillow to her left shoulder.

Ranma turned around quickly and gazed at Akane. Akane felt Ranma's arm around her, and turned around. Their eyes locked and both started to blush.

The nasty wind blew hard, sending a horde of leaves towards them, attacking their blushing forms.

Reflexively, Ranma hugged Akane closer and sheltered both from the leaves and the wind.

The wind passed, and Ranma was still holding Akane.

Theystole a glimpse at each other, and realized the position they were into. Both reacted. Akane moved out of her edge of the pillow, pulling the rest of the sheet, leaving Ranma without his part. Ranma snatched down his arm.

" Here" Akane gave Ranma back his half, while she settled back down beside him.

Shoulder to shoulder and blushing furiously, they sat there, and tried to relax a little.

" So… why weren't able to sleep?" Ranma tried to make conversation.

" I don't know… I just haven't been able to sleep well, since… eeh… we came…back…"

" And you?"

" Sort of the same thing… Have you been coming up to the roof ever since?"

" I always used to climb up the roof when I was little to play, all the time, but one day, I fell, but I was lucky enough for my mother to catch me. She was so scared, I remember perfectly the look of concern she had in her eyes, just that persuaded me to almost never do it again, until I was big enough to take the fall…" Akane finished with a couple of tears running down her cheeks while looking up the sky. " Then, I have never been able to resist the temptation of climbing up here when the stars are like this."

Ranma's soul was in pain as tears rolled down her face.

Akane sniffed a little, and wiped away the moisture with her hand. 

Finally she giggled a little.

" Ranma, do you like to stare at the stars?" Akane asked with a smile.

*I like to stare at you* Ranma had just deblushed, but with that thought he blushed all over again. * Where did that came from!?!* he mentally yelled while starring away.

Akane giggled. " Awh! Come on! It isn't like 'unmanly' or something like that!"

That brought Ranma back.

" Heh! I know… Yes, I like to look at the stars… but it is kind of boring…"an unheard whisper escaped Ranma's lips "Alone…"

*Ah!! How more UNromantic can this jerk be!!* Akane's mind wondered. * Hey! So what if this bakais completely unromantic, what do I care!* she continued, missing Ranma's whisper.

Akane continued her long list of unsaid insults to Ranma in her mind, waiting for the moment to say them, her anger boiling… she _almost_ missed Ranma's whispered words.

" But it is sort of nice to stare at them with… company"

Akane turned around immediately and Ranma turned to see her expression. They ended up looking into each other's eyes, their faces inches apart. 

Ranma looked into her eyes. * Will she let me…*. 

Akane looked into Ranma's eyes * will he…*. 

Ranma started to lean in and stopped, their noses almost touching. 

Akane saw Ranma's move and her eyes got a little wide that made Ranma stop. *Dammit… why did I do that!*

Akane slowly closed her eyes. Now, it was Ranma's eye's turn to get wide. 

*She will… so… Does this mean she does care for me, I don't think she would let someone kiss her if she doesn't want him to, Akane is not like that…* 

*Oh my God!! I want to kiss her!!* he finally accepted that fact. 

* I really want to kiss her… ok! Here's my chance!* With that final thought Ranma leaned down to kiss his fiancé…

And ended up kissing his pillow.

" I suppose one of the many reasons of calling off the wedding and denying everything, was just the disgusting idea of kissing me, huh, Ranma?" and with that Akane fled to the edge of the roof and flipped down to her room.

" Akane! No! It's not like that…!"

The shutting sound of Akane's window echoed in Ranma's mind… and in the rest of Nerima district.

" Shut up!!" 

Shoes, books and all sorts of things were thrown from all directions at Ranma.

Akane was crying into her pillow, hugging it so hard, that if it were something alive it would be already dead.

* That baka! That jerk!! Why does he always do that! He says nice things and does nice things, and when he has to back up what he says… he.. he chickens out… he denies it… that.. that… Bakabakashiii!!!!*

* Why!!? Why did I think he'd actually kiss me!?! Stupid!*

END

**_Author's notes: _**

** **

**Thanks for reading!! This is my first fanfic ever! So I really hope you like it!**

** **

**This last two chapters are sort of drafts… In case of stupid grammar/spelling mistakes, ok? ^_^**

** **

**Ifthere are Spanish readers out there, that would like the story in Spanish ( I'm a Spanish native speaker, after all), email me or something, let me know. The story is a little behind in Spanish, but if I get enough requests for the parts in Spanish, I'll update it and post both! ^_^**

** **

I need pre-readers & reviewers! =) PPLEEAASSEEE!! or any comments & criticism, please write to nm3@hotmail.com!

** **

**Again, thanks for ****_reading and reviewing_****!**** … Ahh! By the way!! I'll be writing about the status of the chapters and stuff on the review lists of this fanfic, so check them out from time to time if you want to know how the new chapters are coming! =b**

** **

**Thanks_a lot_ to everyone,for their encouraging and constructive reviews!! ****Honto ni arigatou!! ^_^**

** **

**See ya!Ja ne!**

^_^Nm3^_^

" The world is like a mirror: If you face it smiling, it will smile right back at you"

=) [^] (=


	4. Nerimian HELL

Rays of light were reflected by the metal buckets that held a cold, transparent liquid within

This is the story of a cursed martial artist who saves his forced uncute fiancée from the claws of a god; by killing him, for almost killing her, the love of his life. 

When he realizes that he has lost her, no matter what he did, he almost confessed it all, at that exact moment, life went back to her…

When they come back to Japan, uncured; an improvised wedding is organized, well, she is bribed into agreeing and he was "persuaded" by a dozing blow on his neck. The pig-tailed boy, after waking up in a tuxedo, rushes to the girl's room. He gets stricken by her beauty, but also with the news that the cure is under the same roof… while denying his feelings towards her.

Well, as you know this martial artist is a trouble magnet, so, his other 3 fiancées showed up: a crazed Chinese Amazon, a cross dressing okonomiyaki chef, a deluded poisoning gymnast; with his rivals for Akane's affection *not that he'd admit he wants it…*: a poetry-vomiting bokken-swinging jerk, a forever lost pig boy; a couple of more people who want the cure for the Jusenkyo curses: a blind Amazon goose and a coward sign-writing panda; add a perverted old freak, a money-thirsty sister-in-law, a flood-like weeping father-in-law and violà!… the perfect recipe for a disastrous wedding.

Well, after it, his 'almost' father-in-law declared it was only "overtime".

So, this story is about what happens during & after the overtime. This story is about what happens… BEYOND

**Beyond**

**A Ranma ½continuative alter verse fan fiction by nm3**

**_…Pretty long, huh? ^_^_**

** **

Disclaimers: This is a fan fiction based on the characters made & owned by the ingenious Rumiko Takahashi, which I, without her permission (like millions of fans out there) borrowed for the sole propose of creating this humble non-profit fic.Gomen! Takahashi-sama!

One last thing, this story may have Spoilers 1/2 and it may be better that you know the end of the series ( Volume 38 ) =).

*…* are thoughts

Things spoken in mandarin

~~ stuff ~~( he he!)

That's it! ^_^

Without more ado…

On with the story!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

**Chapter 5:**

"Nerimian Hell"

Lightrays were reflected by the metal buckets that held a cold, transparent liquid within. The particles of this fluid - necessary, for some, dreadful, for a few- seemed to be attracted to something close to it.

A dim red brightness shone around the cylindrical containers. Its source was shaking, holding both buckets at its sides; the liquid was almost vibrating, threatening to make its way toward its attraction.

The increasing reddish light was almost heating up the fluid. The brightness was emanating from an anger shaken feminine figure, with blue short hair, in a hall just outside a Furinkan High classroom.

*BAKABAKASHIII!!! That jerk!! How dare he??!!*

*You know it isn't his fault…* some voice, lost in the depths of her mind shouted from within…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The alarm clock beeped abruptly at 4 am, the very same hour she had been waking up every morning for her training routine. 

"Hmm" she mumbled, trying to wake up.

*Training!*. She thought, and immediately she was wide awake and putting on her gi. Then she strapped the weights to her arms and legs, and finally she put on her light yellow- red bandanna on her forehead and tied it around her head.

She exited her room and silently made her way down the hall, She passed by the furo and took a towel. Suddenly, she heard noises outside, in the backyard.

* A burglar!?… He must be new in town…* 

She rushed to the nearest window facing the yard.

The whole hall was illuminated by the brightness of Akane's aura.

Outside, Shampoo was tiptoeing her way into the yard, whispering "Airen, Airen, Airen"accenting every little step, giggling madly.

*Shampooo!! That hussy! I'll show her, once and for all!!…She must have some new magic technique or somethin' to get Ranma with* her mind fumed.

Akane started to build a plan, while waiting for Shampoo to come into the house.

Shampoo jumped on the 1st floor's roof .

Akane ran toward the guest room, with a glass of cold water in hand, and slid inside. There, she saw Genma's snoring panda figure, she immediately asked herself * Where's Ranma ?*. Suddenly, the sound of a shutting window, made Akane quickly hide in the Saotome's closet. There she had an up-close-and-personal meeting with Ranma's clothes, namely, his underwear. That made the beet red Akane turn around immediately, just before Shampoo came into the room.

"Airen…" Shampoo whispered seductively while shutting the door.

" Airen?… Where's Airen?" A confused Shampoo said turning her back to Akane.

Akane immediately jumped out of the closet and spilled the water on Shampoo, pinning the cat to the ground. 

"Gotcha bimbo!"

Taking the cat by its lower back and its neck, she made her way downstairs. Shampoo struggled to escape from Akane's steel grasp, but couldn't.

Akane reached the dining room, and was opening the door with the hand that was on Shampoo-neko's neck, when the feline bit Akane's other hand.

" Sh%t!!!" Akane cursed. Instead of letting go, Akane grabbed Shampoo-neko from its tail, jumped to the backyard, and began swinging it around, in circles above her head, she thought about which flight trajectory would develop the most painful landing for the cat. With that last calculation done, Akane gave her strongest swing and let go of the cat's tail, sending it flying across the Nerima sky.

Inside the house, she turned on the light of the dining room and checked on her bitten hand. * I'll have to get an anti-rabies shot at Dr. Tofu's*

She went up to her room, to get her little personal medical kit.

"Damn!" Akane cursed when she read 4:21 am on her alarm clock.

Suddenly she heard some shuffling noises in her closet.

*huh?*

"P-chan?"

She opened her closet, and a tiny figure promptly glomped her chest and other bodyparts, to say the least, and ran away through the window.

* Arrrgg!!! Happosaiiiii!!* 

"It's no use trying to catch him" she said grabbing - and almost deforming- her window frame, when pain shot through her bitten hand. She turned around to clean her wounded hand, when she saw her underwear drawer open and completely empty.

*Damn! I should have know!!* she turned around to see the millenary 'master' hanging upside down from a tree branch waving many of Akane's panties in the dim light.

" Lookie here what I've got…"

" You old freak!!"

With that war cry, Akane leaped through the window and landed on the roof.

"Want them back? Catch me… he he…if you can"

Happosai ran across the yard and jumped over the wall, landing on the street.

She doubted for a moment, but she jumped from the roof, landing in the yard, her ankle strained with pain. * Aaah!! I should've tried to do this before…*. With the anger driven adrenaline, Akane ignored the pain and ran after Happosai.

Out in the street she yelled "They're mine Happosai! Give them back!!"

" Not a chance! These sweeties are mine now!" Hanging from the light pole right over her head, Happosai hung upside down, caressing Akane's undergarments with his cheek.

" Heeentaaiiii!!!" Akane jumped, trying to knock him down.

" You'll have to do much better than that!" Happosai said, jumping on a fence, running away. 

" Damn! You!" Akane took off after him.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

" Huh?!… What was that?" Ranma said, scratching his eyes, trying to wake up. He was on top of Akane's room.

He drowsily dragged himself over the edge of the roof. He hung upside down, yawning, and opened his eyes. 

*Where is she!?!*

He jumped inside her room, and saw it was a mess.

* Oh kami! Don't tell me…*

He bounced to the roof then to the yard, and sped away towards the dojo…

* She's not here*

He searched the house, just in case…

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

" Where are you, hentai!!??" Akane was on some rooftop, searching for Happosai.

" Happodaikarin!"

*Aaaah!! He's really out to get me!?!* her mind reeled, while her piercing scream became weird coughs.

" He he! It's just a saltpeter bomb, Akane dear, I wouldn't even think of harming you! It was just a lit-tle joke" Happosai anounced while he held on tight to Akane's bossom.

" Geeeet off meee!!" Akane yelled, unleashing a wave of punches and kicks that the old man easily dodged.

" He he… you definitely need to train Akane-chan… I'll train you anytime you want!" Happosai offered, then he was on the run again, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Akane tried to follow him closely. * Cool! I can go roofjumping!!* 

Happy jumped across the street, flying across from roof to roof.

*Damn!**Come on Akane… you can do it!* With a determined glint in her eyes, Akane tried her best to jump the fairly wide distance… failing miserably and landing on a pile of trash.

*Better stick to what you know*. Akane stood up, trying to get all the junk out of her hair, including a banana peel that hung right in the middle of her face, then she took off through the street, after Happosai.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

* She's nowhere to be found* * Was she kidnapped again!?* * No, no, com' on man! Get a grip!… maybe she's on her morning jog…* * Yep that's it!… I hope* various voices agreed in Ranma's head. He ran outside, searching for her.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"That.. that… ARRRGG!!!" 

A very trashed Akane searched fruitlessly around Nerima, looking for a panty-stealing millenary being.

" Feh… It's no use… You just wait, dear Happi-sama…" Akane put all her sarcasm in this line "… I'll show you, one of these days…"

With a mixture of tired anger and eternal frustation on her lowered face, Tendo Akane started her way back to the dojo.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

" Akaneee!!…."

" Akaaaaaneee!!…."

* Where the hell is that tomboy…* concern flowed through his features at this thought.*She must be…*

" Raaaannmmmaaa!!!Prepare to DIE!"

His thoughts interrupted, and bored of this deja-vu, Ranma just turned around to face Ryouga, with his ever-worn smirk.

" Sorry P-chan, playing with you is not on my to-do list for today… I've got better things to do now"

" GGrrrrr……. RAAANNNMAAA!!! Be gone!"

Ryouga launched a wave of rage fed combinations at Ranma… Punches, umbrellas, sweepings, razor-blade bandannas, kicks, the finger point technique… everything in his repertory.

Ranma dodged, waiting for a good opening to counterattack & take him down _fast_… but in Ryoga's mind, the battle was _on_…he's had it and he was taking Saotome out of the picture for good…

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

" Uuggh…"

Akane entered her house slowly, limping a little.

* Man, do I stink!*

She looked at the clock, it was 7:05 am, and Kasumi was finishing breakfast.

Akane turned, making her way to the bathroom.

" Oh my! Akane, what happened to you?" concerned, the exiting Kasumi asked the, rather, trashed girl.

" The usual, Kasumi… Shampoo at 4am, then Happosai…" at the mentioning of his name her ki flared up "… stole all my underwear…"

"Again?" Kasumi asked

" Wow!! It's the 17th time this month!… You're hurtin' the budget with your every-day-shop for panties…" Nabiki said matter-of-factly.

" Heeeeyy!! It's not my fault!! It's that freaky hentaii!!" the smallest Tendo snapped.

"You should buy a safe box… I'll sell you one on the minimum price, with family discount and everything, of… " we can hear drums being played…

"…7500 yen!" Nabiki finished leaning to Akane with her old-fashioned predatory smile plastered on her face.

" Yeah right, 'neechan…" Akane ignored her.

Her smile was replaced by a serious grin, that transformed into a weird expression that wrinkled her nose…

" Hey Akane… what's with the new perfume… or must it be your new deodorant?" Nabiki asked

" Oh sorry Nabiki…Forgive me that I don't use your favorite 'New money' fragrance…" Akane replied.

Nabiki raised an eyebrow, her ever worn business grin on her features.

"…Sorry, 'neechan…" this time she meant it "…It's because I've had a terrible day… the worst is.. it's just starting…" 

She turned to her older sister.

"Kasumi, is the furo ready?"

" Yes, it is, Akane-chan" 

"Thank you"

Akane turned around, wanting to be soaking in it already.

" You should go check your ankle and that nasty wound at Dr. Tofu's before school, Akane-chan" Kasumi suggested.

" I will, 'neechan, it's no big deal…"

Kasumi watched her sister's slow way up the stairs, concern showing on her almost-always peace filled features.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

" Why are you packing?… you just came back…" confused, Mousse asked. 

"None of your business…" Cologne answered.

" Why you, old crone!" Mousse attacked Cologne…that certainly did not work…

A new Mousse engraving was made on the wall, by Cologne's delicate staff swing.

Slowly, Mousse tried to come back to conscience… A horrible sight met his eyes…

"Xian Pu… Who has done this to you?…" Mousse asked to the crawling cat entering the establishment.

He was unheard by the thoughtful Cologne.

*Tendo Akane… today… you'll crack* 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

End of Chapter's 5 Phase 1 

Want more?? REVIEW!

AUTHOR NOTES:

Hi minna-san! I hope you enjoyed the fic!

Gomen!! I know, I know *wacks her own head*… I've taken toooooooooooooooooooo damn long witting this chapter… but I've been a lit-tle busy on College… but I'm finally on break!! ^_^… Now my priority is on this chapter, and the 1st chapters of " Loves at War" (posted as "NANI!?"), "Fallen", and Sakura Card Captor's "Have you got that feeling?"… AND getting my driver's license! ^_^ *Anyone wants to go out for a spin!?? ^_^*

I'm postin' this as a multipart chapter, because it is going to be one, if not the longest of the series… ^_^… and you wouldn't have let me live through another month before postin' it at its complete state, ne? ^_^ 

Ifthere are Spanish readers out there, that would like the story in Spanish ( I'm a Spanish native speaker, after all), e-mail me or something, let me know. The story is a little behind in Spanish, but if I get enough requests for the parts in Spanish, I'll update it and post both! ^_^

THANKS!! Minna-san, for reading and reviewing my fics *Glad for those who like 'em… sorry for those who hate it*, and THANKS a-whole-lot to my prereaders, Tati-chan & Abby-chan!! Arigatou gozaimasu!! 

People willing to sacrifice themselves on the task of prereadin' my fics… email me at [nm3@hotmail.com][1] & those interested on chatting sometime with me, contact me on msn messenger with said mail! ^_^

GUYS!!! I'm on a mangaka course…*Whether you believe it or not^_^*…The final project is a 15 page long ORIGINAL manga… mine's called "Maiko Dori", or "The Maiko's Way" *Maiko - geisha apprentice*… Want to hear more 'bout it?, mail me… The script is written, I'm deciding whether or not I should post it! ^_^ 

THANKS EVERY1 FOR READING, AND SUPPORTING MY FICS! ^_^

BEHAVE!!… and _if_ you don't… Call me!, so I can join the fun! ^_~

Cuidense mucho! *Take care*

Ja ne! Ciao! Bai Bai! Adios!

Your beloved author, *I know you just sweatdropped*

Nm3

_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*&_*

"MONDAY MORNINGS SUCK!"

Popular belief… ne? ^_^

   [1]: mailto:nm3@hotmail.com



	5. Chap 6: Morning is alright for fighting

This is the story of a cursed martial artist who saves his forced uncute fiancée from the claws of a god; by killing him, for almost killing her, the love of his life.

When he realizes that he has lost her, no matter what he did, he almost confessed it all, at that exact moment, life went back to her.

They come back to Japan, uncured; an improvised wedding is organized, well, she is bribed into agreeing and he was "persuaded" by a dozing blow on his neck. The pig-tailed boy, after waking up in a tuxedo, rushes to the girl's room. He gets stricken by her beauty, but also with the news that the cure is under the same roof… while denying his feelings towards her.

Being common knowledge, this martial artist is a trouble magnet, so, his other 3 fiancées showed up (a crazed Chinese Amazon, a cross dressing okonomiyaki chef, and a deluded poisoning gymnast), with his rivals for Akane's affection not that he'd admit he wants it (a poetry-vomiting bokken-swinging jerk and a forever lost pig boy); a couple of more people who want the cure for the Jusenkyo curses turned up for the occasion (a blind Amazon goose and a coward sign-writing panda), then add a perverted old freak, a money-thirsty sister-in-law, a flood-like weeping father-in-law and violà!… the perfect recipe for a disastrous wedding.

After the whole fiasco, his 'almost' father-in-law declared it was only "overtime".

So, this story is about what happens during & after the overtime. This story is about what happens… Beyond!

**B E Y O N D **

_A Ranma ½ continuative alterverse fan fiction by **nm3 **_

**_

* * *

_**

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, not mine at all! That would be mere wishfull thinking! This is a fan fiction based on the characters made & owned by the ingenious Rumiko Takahashi, which I, without her permission, borrowed for the sole propose of creating this humble non-profit fic. Gomen! Takahashi-sama!

One last thing, this story may have Spoilers 1/2 involving the end of the series (Volume 38 ).

* * *

Chapter 6

"**Nerimian Hell: _Morning's alright for fighting_"**

Humming some cheer up tune, Akane soaked in the Tendo's furo trying to evaporate the stink that seemed to have stuck on her skin, after her 'wonderful' unfruitful Happi hunt.

She examined the nice big gash Shampoo-neko's teeth left on her right wrist, thinking "Damn! It may need stitches. I should've not yanked her while she was still bitting, ne? ". She could only sigh.

Then she raised her eyebrows at the growing battling noises that came from the yard.

"Ranma and Ryoga are at it, again " An annoyed sigh followed. She closed her eyes, leaned back and relaxed. She knew she still had some minutes left to indulge. She couldn't believe how sore she was from the chase.

"How can Ranma do all that roof hopping and chasing? Everyday? " She wondered.

Lost in thought she stretched, getting ready to come out of the furo, just then, Ryoga's battle cry introduced Ranma's entrance through the crashing window, landing on Akane's naked lap.

When Ranma opened his eyes, he met Akane's angry glare and naked chest. His mind stopped. Blank. Her mind was insulting him so fast that she couldn't put it in words, so Mr. Mallet appeared and helped her speak up.

"Heeeeeeeentai!"

Ranma flew out the same window he came in, right into Ryoga's umbrella swing, which redirected him into the Tendo residence outer wall.

The rubble had just finished covering every inch of Ranma, when Kasumi called for breakfast.

"Oh! Ryoga-kun, would you like to join us for breakfast? I'll set up a place for you right away" the ever smiling Kasumi gently offered.

His mind raced. He shook his head to clear it. "Thank you, Kasumi. You're too kind, but I can't stay" He turned around and took off running. He used Ranma's emerging head as a trampoline to jump to the nearest roof.

A dust covered Ranma emerged from what used to be the wall, wearing a couple of new and growing bruises on his cheek and forehead. He was cursing the very existence of pork converting people all around the world, namely one squealing pig featuring a yellow and black bandanna around its neck. For Ranma's torture and Akane's delight, the pig came jumping in the dinning room, welcomed by the girl's inviting arms and the boy's glare. The pig nuzzled into the girl's chest, squealing delightfully at Akane's cooed words. Ranma gapped at the scene. The porcine lifted itself from the bosom and stuck out its tongue at Ranma.

"That's it!" Ranma snapped.

He tried to snatch the pig, it dodged and his hand ended in said bosom. Now it was Akane's turn to get mad, double time.

"It's not enough for you to barge in on my bath! You still have to fondle me, you HENTAI! It was enough to deal with Happosai earlier and now this!" She validated her point with the appearance of Mr. Mallet.

"N-no A-akane, you see, I was fighting Ryoga and he…" Ranma scarcely tried to explain.

"NO more excuses Ranma!" She swinged her powerful mallet at Ranma, which he dodged with an incredibly tight somersault. "That mallet's growing bigger by the day!" His mind panicked.

The maneuver made him land on the table, right on his miso soup plate that spilled over Akane's face and torso. She stopped. Her stance widened. With her fisted hands on her hips and a glare on her face, her battle aura grew bigger and redder.

"Are you mocking me, Saotome? Are you? I swear I'll erase you today!" With her aura blazing she took off after Ranma, mallet in hand and ready to smash a retreating pigtailed skull.

* * *

"I'll kill this bitch, how dare she!" With Mousse beside her, a furious and lightly bandaged Shampoo cursed in mandarin. Stomping through Nerima's streets, she looked for said tomboy. 

Right in front of her, on the crossroad ahead, a blur of cold blue and red hot auras zipped by. "There they are!" She yelled to Mouse. They chased alter them.

"This is an unusually fast chase for Akane" Mouse oddly thought "Almost hard to catch"

Akane yelled an insult with every mallet swing. Ranma was having a hard time dodging while thinking the right words to try to calm her down.

"Look A-akane, this is all a misunderstanding!" He sidestepped. "Believe me!" He ducked. "Calm down a bit, and I'll explain" He hardly dodged this swing. If it had hit, He'd be waving 'hello' at the crew of the international space station by now.

"Goddamit! Calm down tomboy! Jeez, you almost got me there!"

Well, that didn't seem to work.

"That's the idea, baka!"

Shampoo and Mouse were close behind, it was impossible to loose the battling couple's trail since all the mallet wholes, fallen walls, broken street lamps and rubble seemed to carpet their way towards them.

"OK, I'll stop then…" Ranma abruptly stopped. Arms crossed and eyes closed, almost breathing hard. "… and hope for the best, the best being _survival_!" His mind finished.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaayaaaaaaaah"

The mallet came down. Hard.

"Am I still alive?" His mind asked. He ventured himself and opened his eyes

Milimeters away from Ranma's feet, a new mallet crafted crater stood.

"Talk. Now!" She ordered.

On the other side of the crater, sans mallet, Akane stood hands-on-hips. He needed to sigh while rubbing his temples, eyes shut hard, squeezing the right words out of his brain.

Her battle aura flared.

"Can't she wait a milisec for me to avoid putting my foot on my mouth later!" His mind panicked.

He snapped his eyes open and witnessed the bombori-mallet collision. Shampoo attacked Akane from above. He rushed to interfere in the girl's fight, and prevent Akane from being killed, he thought. A chain held him back.

"Do not interfere in my Shampoo's vengeance!" Mousse tried to warn Ranma.

Ranma turned back when he heard Akane's body crash into the nearest wall. She was fiercely defending herself, but hardly fighting back. Shampoo was attacking at an outrageous speed, almost at kashuu tenshin amaguriken speed. Some hits were starting to filter in, connecting with Akane's ribs.

He panicked. He grabbed and pulled the chain, dragging Mousse with it. He received him with a round house kick on the face. Then he yanked the chain free of his robes.

Akane had managed to turn herself and Shampoo over. She had the Chinese girl in a killer embrace, trying to crush the air out of her lungs. Shampoo was using the little room she had to move her arms to punch Akane's sides.

Achy and breathless, Akane dove in and bit Shampoo's shoulder. Hard. "Touché" She mentally smiled at her little own pay back.

Shampoo threw her head back while screaming her lungs out right in Ranma's ear. He was desperately trying to separate Akane and Shampoo when water fell from above. Ranma shrank and Shampoo dissolved in her clothes. Akane fell to her knees, exhausted.

"Are you OK?" Ranma asked in her female voice.

Akane panted "My ribs" She coughed "…are sore. Besides that, I'm fine" She half smiled at Ranma. She was happy she had at least been able to stand up to Shampoo. A second later, she realized that if it hadn't been for the plant watering lady, she wouldn't be giving Ranma a good answer. So she frowned.

"Are you sure?" She almost conviced him when she smiled and all, but her frowning face brought all his worries back.

"I'm fine!" She remembered "And don't you dare touch me again you pervert!"

"Dammit Akane, can't you lemme explain first!"

Something flew towards Akane. Ranma instinctively reached to stop it. Shampoo-cat dove its nails into Ranma's arm and hissed. Every hair on Ranma's female body stood on its end. She took off screaming while waving her arms histerically.

Akane stood up slowly, pain evident on her features. Three weird looking knives were nailed into the ground below, inches away from Akane's feet. Mousse stood ahead, sober but slightly angry.

"Tendo Akane, I've never interfered in my dearest Shampoo's fights since I've never felt the need to, but I can see you've improved, somehow. I will not fight my love's quarrel since she requested it so, but if you harm her again I _will_ interfere." He took a step closer and leaned to match Akane's eye level, glaring. "As a male Amazon I respect females, but I've got no fear of hitting, beating or killing them. Unlike Ranma" Having said that, he casually turned around and left Akane with her breath caught in her throat.

* * *

Akane walked slowly, limping a little. She was having a hard time when she breathed in deeply. She was very sore and tired already, and it was barely 8 a.m.

"8 a.m.! I'm gonna be late!" She picked up her pace, hiding all her pain when she reached the school's gate.

A samurai armor clad Tatewaki Kuno was there to welcome her this morning, along with a ceremonial ox and a wedding kimono in hand. All the school was watching, of course.

"With the gods and the whole school as our witnesses, we shall be united in marriage. My sweet temptress, Tendo Akane, I shall redeem your honor, which was lost at the recently aborted wedding you suffered!"

"I can't _believe_ this jerk!" She snarled.

"Oh! Here comes my other object of affection. She runs to me, to keep me from marriage!" He sighed, lovesick. "Do not worry my osage no onna! I shall marry Tendo Akane, and you will be my dearest concubine! I shall satisfy you both!"

Ranma ran aimlessly, desperate. With Shampoo-cat's paws attached to her scalp, screaming "Cat!" in every stride.

"Come to me, my beauties!" Kuno waited with arms wide open.

Akane could only sweatdrop when Ranma promptly ran over Kuno. The huge bump on his head caused by the hit was evident moments later.

"Well, I suppose I will have to, once again, take you to the infirmary, for the accustomed fee of course." Nabiki said.

"Marrying me to redeem me!" She muttered, along with some colorful insults involving bokken wielding Shakespeare spouting bakas. All the memories from the aborted wedding flooded her mind, again. Her stomach cringed, her eyes narrowed and her temper got the best of her, again.

"I swear to God! I'll never get married!" She angrily shouted to the heavens, stomping into the school building.

* * *

Lightrays were reflected by the metal buckets that held a cold, transparent liquid within. The particles of this fluid -necessary, for some, dreadful, for a few- seemed to be attracted to something close to it.

A dim red brightness shone around the cylindrical containers. Its source was shaking, holding both buckets at its sides. The liquid was almost vibrating, threatening to make its way toward its attraction.

The increasing reddish light was almost heating up the fluid. The brightness was emanating from an anger shaken feminine figure, with blue short hair, in a hall just outside a Furinkan High classroom.

"BAKABAKASHIII! That jerk! How dare he!" enraged her mind shouted.

"You know it isn't his fault" some voice, lost in the depths of her mind shouted from within.

"Yeah right" she half muttered.

"Um Akane…" Ranma tried.

"What?" She barked.

Sweat beads shone on Ranma's forehead. He was struggling to avoid her almost bursting anger.

"About Shampoo…"

"What about her? Would it be her recent nude appearance while attached to your torso… in front of the whole class! What about it? " She hissed. She would have loved to shout her lungs out, but they were already in enough trouble, holding buckets as punishment for being late, interrupting class, crashing the windows, improper behavior (thanks to naked Shampoo), and pretty much everything Hinako sensei could come up with the moment they showed up.

"We had to change to avoid going into the nekoken. When she changed back, she held on to me 'to cover herself' " He explained sarcastically "I struggled and tried to peel her off me, I just happened to fall through our class window in the middle of it"

Akane was uninterestedly looking out the opposite way.

A blackboard eraser flew, hitting the back of Ranma's head. "Be quiet! You're not allowed to talk!" Hinako sensei humphed "Behave or I'll drain you dry!" She then proceded with the class.

A few minutes passed and Ranma continued fidgeting. He looked down at Akane's right wrist that wore a nasty gash. It was gapping a little under the stress of the girl's anger tightened fists that held the buckets. He also noted the multiple cuts and scrapes she wore on her arms and legs, she even had a small cut over her right cheekbone. Some bruises where starting to show up too.

He frowned, but dared and whispered "Akane, why do you have that big gash on your wrist and all the other cuts and scrapes?"

"Shampoo" her aura flared a little with her reply.

"No, I mean before the..." He searched for a word "… incident this morning? I noticed them while we… tried to eat breakfast earlier"

"Xian Pu" she was glaring at him now "and Happosai too" She looked back at the window in front of them.

He gapped. "What did that perv did to her? I swear I'll…" Her hushed reply interrupted his thinking.

"I discovered Shampoo trying to sneak into your…" She suppressed the upcoming blush when she remembered her meeting with Ranma's underwear "…the house. I splashed her. I was taking her out when she bit my wrist, so I yanked her off, took her by the tail and flung her out"

Ranma smirked, imagining Shampoo-cat cruising through the Nerimian skyline. "Oh, so that's why she was out for revenge later!" he realized.

"When I went to my room, to get my medical kit, I found Happi." She half growled sarcastically "He was in my closet, stealing all my underwear, again. I got so angry I jumped out the window after him. I roof hopped to try to catch him." She said proudly.

Ranma frowned "So that's why her room was a mess this morning. Wait a second, roof hopping?" He thought while he raised an eyebrow.

"But I couldn't quite make the jump over a street and landed in a dumpster, hence, the cuts and scrapes."

Ranma thought outloud "What the hell were you thinking? How did you ever think that you could outsmart Happosai? Roof hopping, you could've broken your neck, you know? You being so clumsy and all!" The moment the words flew out of his mouth, he regreted saying them. "Foot in mouth! Foot in mouth!" His mind yelled.

"I warned you two!" Hinako's childish form flew out of the classroom door and stood in position "Five yen technique!"

With Akane in front of her, she started draining her. Little Hinako started to grow higher. Ranma jumped in front of Akane, protecting her and getting drained in the process. Hinako filled and was now standing tall in the skimpy cream colored dress she always wore.

"I told you to behave!" She said in her now adult mezzo soprano voice.

Totally drained Ranma fell back, exhausted, right into Akane's chest. She instinctively caught him, his head in between her breasts. He blinked and looked up at her. She blushed.

"You pervert! Can't you stop?" She yelled while she malleted Ranma through the window.

She huffed and puffed while she saw Ranma's inert body splash into the pool.

"Come back to class, Akane." Hinako ordered. "I'll ensure that bad student gets his punishment later"

Akane sighed and winced, hating Shampoo more by the second.

* * *

Kuno's bandaged head swung side to side at his sister.

"How could you want that fowl sorcerer, that honorless coward of Saotome?" Tatewaki admonished.

"How could you love that Tendo peasant and that infamous red headed demon?" Kodachi admonished back, snapping her ribbon.

"Ha! But I'm loved back! Look, here comes my red headed water sprite! Into my arms she comes. I shall shower her with kisses and dress her with this marriage kimono" which erupted from under his sleeves, very Mousse like. "… to be married right away!"

Ranma's girlish form climbed out of the pool, dripping wet, coughing.

"She may be coming to beat you up once more!" Kodachi said.

"Love's tender caress" Kuno liked to call it.

Kodachi was getting frustrated "Look brother, I'll help you get this unworthy redhead, this once, if! You point me towards my dearest Ranma's whereabouts"

Tatewaki immediately showed his interest and nodded. "He's in the third floor of this building, his classroom's the one in front of that broken window" He pointed out with his bokken.

She merrily jumped and loudly laughed her trademark creepy hilarity.

Ranma looked up and was caught by surprise by a black rose bouquet on her face. She gasped, which was her mistake since that allowed the sleep inducing toxin to be immediately inhaled. With a thud her body instantly fell.

* * *

A snapping ribbon interrupted the class for the millionth time this morning. Hinako did an eyeroll and sighed.

"What now?" She asked, annoyed.

Akane sank into her chair while glaring at gymnast. "Just another more nut to make my day!" She muttered.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me Saotome Ranma's location?" She asked while scaning the room "Since it seems he's not here at the moment" She tried to be courteous since she knew about this teacher's 'talents'.

"He flew off to enjoy the pool." Akane sarcastically replied. Her classmates laughed.

"You peasant!" Annoyed and angry, Kodachi hissed. "What cruel atrocity have you yet again put Ranma-sama through?" She whipped her ribbon at Akane, catching her injured wrist.

Akane cursed, but wouldn't let her pain show, in fact she closed a fist around the ribbon and pulled it back, forcing kodachi to take a step forward and widen her stance to avoid loosing her balance.

"This has not been my day, Kodachi. So I advise you run along and don't bother me anymore!" Akane dared.

"How bold this lewd girl has become!" She insulted.

Akane narrowed her eyes, throwing daggers at Kodachi.

"Well then, insolent brat, I challenge you! Fight me, peasant!" the leotard clad girl shouted.

Knuckles cracked "Soccer field!" Akane yelled.

They both ran sideways, not taking their eyes off each other to move. They jumped out the window. The whole class followed to watch.

"Eeep!" Akane mentally yelled the moment her feet passed over the window sill, and found herself leaping from the third floor. She panicked and looked around. She was able to catch the drainpipe that fell all along the building towards the grassy floor below. She used it to climb down at record speed.

Back on the third floor Ukyo watched, perplexed. All the classmates watched, amazed by Akane's ability.

"Huh? When did Akane learn to do that? Is she training? What is she training for?" She gasped in thought "Is Ranma training her?" She shook her head "This is not good!" She took off. She had to witness the fight.

* * *

She stirred.

Kuno was fighting an inner battle "Should I dress her up in the kimono? That would mean I have to strip her off her clothing… What about her honor? What about my honor?" He frowned.

"Ah! But if we get married right away, her honor won't be tarnished nor mine. I'm a genius! I will dress her up!" Determined he turned to Ranma, who welcomed him with a nice view of his elbow.

"Jackass" she muttered. She stood up wobbly, intoxicated still, only to watch in horror that the fight was about to start. Akane and Kodachi were taking their stance. Nabiki seemed to appear besides them, classmates started to fill the field, sitting down as if to watch a soccer game.

"That nutcase will trash Akane! And if she really brings it, she could kill her!" His mind terrorized, his worst nightmares becoming reality. She took off, only to be glomped from behind by Kuno.

"That dammed Hinako, She drained me so much that I can't even fight off Kuno!" she struggled in Kuno's inescapable embrace. She stopped dead. "Akane was drained too! And she's going to fight Kodachi! God! She's gonna get herself killed!" She battled Kuno's arms inching closer to the fight.

* * *

"Give up, unworthy pauper" Kodachi sneered "I know my darling Ranma might get upset if I hurt you too much, but it'll be worth it! I've been waiting for my chance to get back at you for trying to steal him from me!"

"Can't you get it through that thick head of yours? Ranma is not yours, dammit!" Akane yelled back.

"So you're saying you will fight me for him?" Kodachi asked, cocking an eyebrow, taking this as a perfect opportunity to get the Tendo girl out of the way.

"NO! I'm just saying he's not an object to be won or taken, Jeez!" Akane couldn't relieve this girl's thickness.

"If I win, will you to stay out of my way, would you finally let us be?" Kodachi passionately asked, outloud, wanting to have as many witnesses as possible.

Akane chuckled and the sobered up. "OK. But If I win, promise you will let me alone, you will leave Ranma and the redhead alone. You will also keep yourself and your brother out of our lives! Understood?" Akane demanded.

Kodachi nodded.

"Say it outloud so we can all hear!" Akane too was taking advantage of the crowd.

"Yes, I will comply with your terms as long as you comply with mine"

"Can you document this somehow?" Akane asked Nabiki.

"I'm recording it." She replied as-a-matter-of-factly while she pointed toward a digital camcorder on a tripod beside her.

Nabiki stood in between the fighters, acting as referee. Behind her, amongst the crowd, her minions where busy taking up the bets.

"This will be a no-rule, no time limit fight, won only by knock out and lost by surrender. Using bystanders as weapons isn't allowed. There will be no rematch. Killing will be severely frowned upon, OK?" She glanced at Akane. She couldn't believe she was serious about it, she could loose Ranma. She would. Even though Akane is her sister, but as the fact based person she was, her reason could not support her sister. She will cheer and help her in any way possible, but she was dreading the outcome of this fight.

"Hajime!" With that she lowered her arm, announcing the beginning of the combat. She stepped back, camera in hand.

Both girls jumped back to add up a good distance, measuring one another. They both had stern looks. Determined to end this quickly, eager to be in Ranma's arms, Kodachi attacked first. She snapped her ribbon twice before catching Akane's unharmed wrist.

"Trying to pull this stunt on me again? Don't underestimate me!" Her mind yelled, while her body pulled the ribbon along with the gymnast, hard. Then she immediately sprung forward, toward the unbalanced face first falling Kodachi, who was surprised at the sudden, unpredictable move. Akane punched right in the middle of her face, and sent her flying across the lawn. The lazy ribbon was now in Akane's hands.

Nabiki blinked. Ukyo gapped. The crowd cheered.

Kodachi wheezed. Her vision was starting to clear by the time she was standing back up. With an audibly loud crunch she twisted her nose back in place. The crowd silenced.

"You wench!" Kodachi ran towards Akane, crossed her hands under her arms and pulled out her clubs, since she wasn't planning on playing nice, she pushed out the spikes.

She started with two clubs. Akane dodged them, the spiked clubs passed millimeters away from her. Kodachi pulled two clubs more into the blur of movement. Akane was struggling to keep her defenses, dodging, sidestepping, ducking, anything!

Finally Kodachi brought out four more clubs. Akane was reaching her speed limit. Kodachi aimed for her feet, Akane jumped, but Kodachi caught her and landed a hit on her left side. Akane stooped, holding her left side. Kodachi didn't wait to kick Akane square in the chest, sending her flying a fair distance.

Nabiki was breathless. Ukyo winced. The crowd was dead silent, some exchanged glances.

Akane rose, panting. She pressed tightly on her left side. Blood was drawing a big stain on her blouse.

* * *

Ranma stood still. Having seen Akane's first move relieved him a bit, he thought then that maybe Akane may have known what she was doing, but when he saw that Kodachi was definitely not holding back and stroke Akane, he stood horrorized. When he saw the blood stain, his mind went blank, he was breathless. Something inside him started to break.

He took off. His female body's speed was his advantage. He had to stop this fight. Now!

* * *

Nabiki saw the red stain spreading on her sister's blouse. She gasped and stepped closer.

"Stop!" Akane ordered, her left arm extended, showing Nabiki her palm. "Do not interfere!" She ordered and turned "You too, Ranma! You will let me finísh this fight!"

Ranma skidded to a halt, meters away from her. "Akane you can't ask me that!" He stepped closer and secretly said "I can't just sit and watch you get beaten up!"

"I can fight my own battles, goddamit!" She yelled back.

"I can't let…" his voice fell to a whisper "I can't let her hurt you more. I can't stand seeing you hurt, please, don't ask me that!" He let his concern show on his female features and held Akane's eyes for a moment, before looking down, embarrassed.

Her face softened. "Have a little faith in me, Ranma" She sighed. He looked up.

"OK, I'll let you stop the fight, only, if I'm in real danger of getting killed. But you gotta understand, I _need_ to do this" She half smiled. "Besides, this is a great opportunity to finally get her off our backs, ne?" She now smiled fully at Ranma. His heart fluttered, but the growing bloodstain only made his worries bigger.

She turned back to Kodachi.

"Great! Now I can dispose of you both!" Kodachi announced.

"Oh sorry to burst your bubble, Kodachi, but this is and will remain a one on one fight" She winced a little when she straighten up. She put a smirk on her face. She flexed her neck and cracked her knuckles. "Ok, let's get this over with" Then she took a loose stance.

Kodachi ran, closing up on Akane. Two big hoops came out, followed by two shinning small hoops. She sent the first two rolling towards Akane, she jumped to avoid them. Kodachi smirked knowingly, and threw the smaller hoops. Akane flexed and put up her arms to defend herself in mid air. The hoops cut through her left elbow and her right eyebrow.

"Sharp!" Her mind screamed. She landed and stole a glance to check the damage. Flesh wounds, she noticed.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Ranma's mind repeated. "Just flesh wounds, nothing serious!" He tried to mentally convince himself.

Akane's eyes narrowed. Her battle aura flared up, red. Her stance changed, almost crouching. Her face serious. Her mind racing. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. Her aura seemed to flow out of her with cadence. At its base, an orange hue started to mingle with the red. The orange spread through the red, skyward.

Her eyes opened. She now held a fiery, confident and determined gaze.

"Bring it on!" She yelled.

They started running towards each other. Kodachi threw the hoop combo again, but Akane slid sideways to dodge the first couple and ducked to avoid the second pair.

She continued running towards Kodachi like an unstoppable train. Kodachi stopped and ran backwards. She threw a ball that rolled toward Akane and exploded. Akane leaped right before it exploded and flew through the explosion covering herself. She rolled through her landing. She stood and continued towards Kodachi, who sent several more balls which Akane dodged more intelligently.

She finally reached Kodachi, who had almost run out of toys, fighting without her team did limit her tools. Akane started her attack hand-to-hand. Kodachi was only dodging, then she pulled out a yellow rope, blocked Akane's punch with the rope and wrapped it around her wrist. She twisted the rope, sat back and swung Akane over her head.

Akane's body smashed into a nearby tree and slid to the ground.

Ranma hadn't been able to breath for a while now. The frown lines on his features where so deep, they cut his face into a mess of worry.

Kodachi walked up to Akane's unmoving body.

Ranma ran closer. Nabiki got closer as well. The crowd gapped.

"It seems I've finally beaten this precarious bitch!"

"You'd wish!" Akane sweeped Kodachi off her feet and immediately kicked her in the gut, multiple times before sending her flying a few meters away.

The ill tempered girl squatted down, dug into the ground and pulled a root. She pulled harder and lifted a whole tree above her head as if it was a huge baseball bat. She swung it with her left hand towards Kodachi, who jumped high to avoid the massive hit.

While her adversary was in mid air, Akane reached behind her, and took something from her waistband, whipped it and laced falling Kodachi's legs together with her own ribbon.

Then she swung Kodachi in circles above her before pulling her to the ground in an earth shattering crash.

When the cloud of dust settled, Kodachi was sprawled on the ground breathing hard, wincing and muttering. Akane was on her knees, huffing and puffing. She stood and walked to Kodachi.

"It's not over yet. It is not…" The clobbered Kodachi muttered, struggling to get up.

Akane let out an annoyed sigh. "How thick can she get?" Then she punched the ground next to Kodachi's head. "Dammit!"

The crowd gasped.

Akane sat on Kodachi's chest, she put her elbow menacingly over Kodachi's throat, who was staring back at Akane with vicious and squinted eyes.

"Do you yield?" Akane asked out loud.

"Never!" Kodachi replied.

Akane persuaded her by pushing her elbow down, on her neck.

"I'll ask again: Do you yield?"

Tears erupted from Kodachi's eyes. She clenched her teeth, her breathing growing more labored.

"Do you yield?" Akane pressed harder.

"I do" came out a small voice. Akane relieved the pressure.

"Come again?" Nabiki asked, having just popped out from behind Akane, camera in hand, of course.

"I yield!" she said out loud.

The crowd cheered.

Akane rolled off Kodachi, and laid down, exhausted. Her eyes started drooping. A nauseating metallic taste filled her mouth. Fatigue washed over her. Then the shivers came. The last thing she saw was Ranma's concerned face desperately shouting out her name.

END OF CHAPTER 6

* * *

Author's notes:

A teeny weenie mini cliffy!

Nm3 kneels down, puts her hands down before her and bows down, her forehead touching the back of her hands.

"Gomen!" She glanced up with pleading eyes and bowed again. "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!" bow "Gomen!"… OK, my back's starting to hurt.

I apologize for the incredibly long time it took me to update. Medical school has been strangling me this past 2 years, and the brainoven has been used for other purposes besides writing. Well, now I'm a 5th year med student, at least.

This series has been completing itself up, the last couple of weeks the pieces have been clicking on my head. It's gonna be great! Now I gotta write it! (…) P. I know it won't be easy, nor fast, but I'll try my best to keep it up! Cross my heart and hope to die!

Author: nm3

Story ideas: nm3 (_vacancy)_

Proofreading and editing: nm3 (_vacancy)_

**Meaning**: suggestions, ideas and proofreaders are always welcomed!

Have a merry belated Christmas, and a blessings filled happy New Year!

See you soon,

- Nm3

* * *

"If you think everything is OK, then you obviously don't know what the hell is going on!"

- Murphy's Law


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